Edward in National City
by Splinter1
Summary: Edward Barnes, Raven and his daughters while on vacation from the Titans and Lair (See the Solor Barnes account, please) take time out to visit National City and Supergirl. Of course, a hero's work is never done, even when one set of heroes is visiting and one wants to forge her path. Takes place in season 2 of Supergirl with the Arrowverse as well.
1. Prologue

Edward's Vacation

Author's Note: Solor/Starborn/Filkiin belong to King of Emerald, used by Permission. All other DC related characters are property of DC Comics/The CW.

You should read the stories in the "Solor Barnes" account for some of this to make sense as this deals with two different universes (well, the second one is more likely to be mentioned with a cameo of Solor and his team). At least, read the profile there as it described what Edward Barnes is (The cliff notes...a rather powerful Dragon who is happily married to Raven of the Teen Titans...the series from a decade ago, not Teen Titans Go.)

 **[Prologue]  
[Kara Danvers Apartment.]  
[A month after season 1 ended.]**

 _Kara Danvers writes…_

 _It's been six months since I was forced to reveal my powers to the world to save Alex's life and, well, life hasn't been the same since. Working for CatCo has always been a challenge with Ms. Grant, but, having to balance that and working for the DEO, plus trying to have a private life is interesting. I still don't know how Clark does it, though._

 _After Myriad was shut down, Non and his cronies have gone to ground. That's fine with me. Since Aunt Astra's death and the memorial service, Non and I have nothing to say to one another. I've never seen Alex so broken, though. When she told me that she killed Astra defending J'onn, at first I was angry. But, Alex is my sister and I couldn't stay angry for long. Her guilt over taking Astra's life told me that she couldn't bear the lie anymore. She cried on my shoulder as I held her, silently forgiving her. When Hank tried to walk past, I stopped him gently, letting him know that I was forgiving him as well for lying to me. I respect that he had to take the fall in my eyes. He understands just how close Alex and I are and didn't want me hating Alex for the rest of my life. But, we are, indeed, "Stronger Together". That's why I returned to the DEO in the first place. I had to rise above my own anger towards Hank._

 _When Alex finally broke down and told me the truth, I think Alex was hoping that I wouldn't fly off and disown her. How could I? She's my sister, for Rao's sake! A sister I would not have had on Krypton. That's why I forgave her. But, there are times when I still see the immense guilt in her eyes, that she thinks I haven't truly forgiven her._

 _My relationship with James is going well, though. I suspect that Ms. Grant knows, but, isn't saying anything._

 _I do think that she knows I'm Supergirl, though. Since Barry went home, Ms. Grant has been nicer to me in both roles. And, when she hugged me recently, I sensed that she felt something familiar. I do look up to her a lot as she has been a guide. I guess she's my super-hero._

 _I am not happy with Ms. Grant in my civilian role. She FIRED Winn recently. The best IT guy at Catco and for whatever reason, she told him to clean out his desk as he was no longer working for her. If he would not have been hired by the DEO right away, he would have been difficult to get hired on elsewhere. I know that when Cat fired Siobhan, no one would return her calls...or when she said "Catco", the prospective employer would say "Sorry. This position is not for you. Good-bye."_

 _Regardless, I cannot let Cat know how annoyed I am. It's her company, and, could fire me just as easily. I suppose I could work full time at the DEO and give up being Kara Danvers._

 _Yet, another superhero is visiting us from Jump City. Edward Barnes and his family are taking some time here while on vacation and, I'm glad that they are here. Edward was one of the first to reach out after the reveal and even said that my story is mine to tell, but, he would always be willing to lend an ear or a hand if asked._

Kara closed her diary program after encrypting the entry and sighed. It was a rare day off from CatCo Worldwide Media for the personal assistant to Cat Grant, the "Queen of all Media". It was a well-earned title that Cat used to the utmost. It was also a down day from her secret job, working at the Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO), even though she was on call for both

When Kara first came out to the world as Clark Kent's cousin, Cat was the one that dubbed her "Supergirl" and was her biggest fan. Even when Cat was forced to denounce Supergirl, it was with great regret on Cat's part. She knew that it would destroy her reputation.

But, after Kara was cured of the Red Kryptonite poisoning, it took a team effort to get the city back in her corner. Barry Allen, aka The Flash, was vital in taking down Livewire and Silver Banshee. And, he told Supergirl to take things slow in getting the City to trust her again. Oddly enough, this Flash was from another universe, yet, from what Edward was told, had the same powers as Wally West, this universe's Flash.

When Livewire tried to shoot down a helicopter, though. Kara had no choice but to take the hit instead. That act was able to get the city back in her corner.

Cat had her role, though. After Kara recovered, she went to CatCo and was discovered by Cat who, despite having every reason to berate Supergirl and end with "Do not ever return," took the high road and forgave Supergirl. She even gave Supergirl permission to stay there as long as she wanted to. The next few days also saw Cat personally penning articles explaining what happened and that the city should take a forgiving stance. She was objective in her writing and wanted folks to make up their own minds.

Deep down, though, Kara was relieved when Banshee and Livewire did what no one else could. They turned a hostile city back to one that would trust the Girl of Steel. Of course, the two metahumans were fuming that they were sitting in jail with power cancelling devices attached to their persons.

Kara's hearing picked up footsteps heading toward her door and, sure enough, there was a knock.

She looked through the door with her X-Ray vision and smiled.

"Come in, Alex," she called out. Her sister had arrived with Kara's favorite Chinese food for their weekly sister bonding night.

Alex went in and greeted Kara, "How's things going?"

"It's going pretty good," Kara replied, looking really interested in the Chinese food.

"Potstickers, right?" she asked.

"Of course," Alex replied, "As well as General Tso's Chicken, extra spicy."

As they ate, a news bulletin interrupted the show saying that there was a large fire downtown.

Kara said, "Save me some of those potstickers."

Alex rolled her eyes, "Just go, Kara. There will be some here when you get back."

Kara removed her outer clothing to reveal her Supergirl costume and was gone in a flash of red and blue.

Little did she know that she was going to get some help.


	2. Helping Supergirl and Cat interview

**Chapter 1  
[National City Hilton]  
[Downtown National City]**

Edward Barnes and family had taken up temporary residence during their vacation that had been previously interrupted by a mission in another universe.

While he was there Solor had recommended that Edward do some guest spots on some cooking shows, so, he decided to visit CatCo and see what he could do. Also, he was planning on seeing Supergirl at some point to see how she was faring. He knew from Superman her identity as Kara Danvers as well, seeing how Superman already trusted him with his secret identity.

He, Raven and their daughters had settled into their suite when Edward's hearing picked up an explosion that was certainly nearby and looked out the window.

He rolled his eyes and said, "A hero's work is never done. I'll be back shortly, I hope."

He headed out and took the elevator downstairs before running out of the lobby and heading towards the fire in his hybrid form.

As he landed, he saw another superhero arrive. It was Supergirl and she looked concerned already.

"Supergirl!" Edward called out, "We can tackle this together, if you'd like."

"Edward?" she asked.

"Yes, that's me," he said, "I'll explain later, let's get this fire taken care of."

Supergirl nodded, "I'll scan for victims."

By then, the initial fire trucks arrived and the station captain was calling for a second alarm immediately.

Supergirl was looking for victims and said, "There's several. I can't get them all at once."

"No worries," Edward said, "Between the two of us and the firemen, we can handle this."

He went over and handed her an extra communicator and showed her how to use it quickly.

They split up then and started rescuing victims who were stuck in the upper floors who were injured.

But, given the fire's rapid expansion and the initial explosions, there were several "Code F" victims as well. That bothered both Edward and Supergirl, but, Edward would sing for them later.

But, he didn't need his wife's empathy to see that under the Supergirl mask, Kara Danvers was saddened to be carrying victims who would be going to the morgue.

As time went by, though, they managed to rescue or recover everyone. By then, the fire department had gone from two alarms to four alarms.

"Supergirl," Edward said through the communicator, "Time to knock this fire down to size."

"Agreed," she said.

Edward's spine lit up blue and the intensity brightened as his Blessing of Water activated. That ramped his power up by tenfold as a super cold blast of ice breath was unleashed.

Combined with Supergirl's own ice breath, the fire was put out within another 15 minutes. That would allow the fire department to move through and dousing any remaining hot spots. It would also free up several stations to pack up and head back to the barn as well.

Both landed near the battalion chief, who thanked them for their assistance. In fact, Supergirl knew him from the fight with Livewire and Banshee and introduced him to Edward.

"Glad to be of help," Edward said, "But, this is not a perfect win. 25 dead, probably 75 or more injured. Please, make sure that the families of the deceased get my condolences, and, I think Supergirl will not mind my asking to relay her own sympathies as well."

"I will relay those messages," the chief said, "I'll keep you both informed of the investigation as well."

Edward nodded his hand, "I am certainly interested in knowing. I hope this was a tragic accidental fire."

"Same here," Supergirl said.

"Do you want to come back to my hotel room and meet the family?" Edward asked.

"I suppose so," she replied.

"Follow me," Edward said.

They headed off and when they were out of earshot, Edward said, "Kara, I know under that costume, you are saddened. I am as well. The loss of life is regrettable, and, I invite you to witness my people's Sending Song. It's a way for dragons to find closure."

"Can my sister come over?" she asked.

"Certainly!" Edward said, "I have heard nothing but good things about her."

Supergirl made a telephone call for a moment. When she was done, Edward said, "The Hilton, room 3012. I'll meet you there."

Supergirl allowed herself to smile as Kara and veered off to collect Alex.

 **[15 minutes later]**

There was a gentle knock on the door and Raven opened it and said, "Come on in. Edward's expecting you. I'm Raven."

Kara said, "Hi, Raven. It's a pleasure to meet you. This is my sister, Alex."

The two sisters went in and were surprised to see the size of the suite.

Raven merely smirked as the look on their faces, "Edward wanted a smaller room, actually. The manager wouldn't hear of it. But, he is only charging us for a regular room. Edward was quite insistent."

"With good reason," Edward said, "I tire of getting things for nothing. For most of my life, I've had to pay for things. But, now…People want to hand me things for nothing. Sometimes, I'm OK with it, but, with me on vacation…I want to pay for things. Free upgrades, though, I'll do as long as I am allowed to pay something.

"But, I digress. Welcome to our suite, Kara and Alex!"

Both smiled as the dragon welcomed them. As they sat down, two younger girls came out, curious as to the visitors.

"Kara and Alex, these are my daughters. The one looking like Raven's smaller sister is our daughter, Callisto. The one looking like a mix of the Titans is Yolstav. They know Kara's alter-ego as well. Don't fret, Kara. They are sworn to the same secrecy I use with Kal-El."

Cally said, "It's an honor to meet you both."

"Are you kidding?" Yolstav asked, "To me, this is like when I was first fostered. Meeting members of the Circle, discovering that some of my aunts and uncles are heirs. I'm thrilled to meet you both, especially…" her voice lowered to a whisper, "Supergirl."

Kara's cheeks turned pink, "Thank you both. I'm happy to be here."

"Same here," Alex replied, extending her hand. She shook hands with everyone (Kara did as well).

"Kara said that there were fatalities at that fire," Alex noted.

Edward nodded, "I'm afraid so, Alex. It doesn't take an empath to know Kara's saddened. There is a song my people sing that provides a sense of closure and I want Kara to hear it, even if she doesn't understand the words. I invite you to listen as well, Alex. Girls, if you want to join in, I would be honored."

Yolstav nodded, "Count me in, dad."

Callisto merely stood up and said, "Lead the way."

"No need," Edward said, "Here is fine."

With that, he started to sing softly as his daughters joined in. As they sang, even though Kara didn't understand the words, she figured out the meaning. She allowed the tears to fall as Alex pulled her into a sisterly hug.

The song itself was relatively short and Edward switched to English to repeat some of it for their benefit.

When they were done, Kara collected herself and said, "Thank you for teaching me this."

Edward sat next to her and said, "Kara Zor-El, you're welcome. I know it's difficult when we're unable to save everyone. So does your cousin and it took him a while to learn that lesson as well. We console ourselves with 'We did the best we could,' but, sometimes, our best is never good enough."

"I know," she said, "While it bothers me, I am learning that sometimes I'm not in time…or that I'm powerless anyway."

Edward smiled, "All part of our story."

"True," Kara said with a soft smile, "I'm glad that you're letting me write my own."

"No problem," Edward replied, "I've been so busy bouncing between universes for the last decade or so, I would only have had limited time to mentor you anyway. But, honestly, Cat's been doing a good job. In fact, she's one reason why I'm visiting National City."

Kara asked, "Why is that?"

"I'm on an extended vacation," Edward said, "And a friend of mine suggested that I do some guest spots on TV, specifically cooking shows. I recalled that CatCo is doing a new show with a friend of mine, Emeril."

"I see," Kara said, "Ms. Grant's schedule is full tomorrow, though, but, if you call ahead, I can get her to take your call." She wrote down the direct number to her desk and handed it to him.

Edward took it and said, "My apologies, ladies. Would you like any refreshments?"

"Do you have any Coke?" Kara asked.

Raven got up and got Kara one.

"Just water for me," Alex said. Raven snagged one and took both to their respective drinkers.

"How's the vacation?" Kara asked.

"Going pretty well, Kara," Edward replied, "The girls are enjoying their time with other cultures and languages. Even Raven's enjoying the break from the Titans."

"Didn't that leave your team short-handed?" Alex asked.

"Not at all," Edward said, "My brother, Solor, is covering for me when necessary. Thankfully, that's not been too often as he is working on repairing his family relationships."

Kara raised an eyebrow, but, didn't say anything else as CatCo's newspaper was also reporting on the Titan's major missions.

Her cell phone rang and she said, "It's Ms. Grant. I gotta take this one."

Edward waved it off, "That's fine."

Kara answered the call and during the conversation let Cat know she was with Edward and family. That got her attention in a hurry.

"She wants to talk to you," Kara said, handing the phone over.

"Hello, Ms. Grant," Edward said.

"Mr. Barnes," Cat replied, "What brings you to National City?"

"Well," Edward said, "I was wanting to make an appointment to talk to you, actually. I am on an extended vacation from my normal duties and a friend suggested that I do some guest spots. I have a lot of respect for CatCo, so…"

"Make the appointment with Kiera," she said. Edward rolled his eyes. _Seriously…she still mispronounces her assistant's name._

"Would you consent to an interview as well?" Cat asked.

"Of course," Edward replied, "As long as you conduct it. I want the best and I know you are among the top five in the country."

"Thank you. And, was that you with Supergirl earlier tonight?" Cat asked.

"It was," Edward replied, "Sadly, despite our combined efforts, there were confirmed fatalities."

"I'm aware of that," Cat said, "I'm still at my office watching the videos."

Edward rolled his eyes, "I'll call Kara in the morning when she's at her desk to make that appointment."

"You could come over now," Cat suggested, "I'm not heading home for a while yet."

"I suppose that will work," Edward replied, puzzled as to the sudden change in plans, "Where can we meet?"

"Supergirl likes a balcony overlooking the park," Cat answered, "Give me five minutes?"

"That's fine," Edward said, "See you then."

Cat disconnected the call to get ready and Edward said, "Kara, does Ms. Grant know your other identity?"

Her face fell, "She knows. After the Flash visited, it was obvious that she has known for a while. She wasn't really fooled when J'onn tried to pose as Supergirl a few months ago. I'm surprised that she hasn't fired me, yet."

"If she's known for months," Raven said, "and hasn't fired you or exposed your secret, I would be inclined to trust her with the truth. Edward knows the secret identities of the Justice League members and keeps that trust. And, you may be assured that none of my family will tell who is who, either. Cat does trust you, Kara."

Kara's face perked up and she asked, "Mind if Supergirl tags along?"

"Not at all, Kara," Edward said, "In fact, it would work out to show me this balcony anyway."

"If you need to change," Raven said, "The bathroom is down the hall."

"No need," she said, removing the outer layer of clothing to reveal her costume.

"You'll have to leave from the roof," Alex said.

"Smart move," Edward said and headed for the door.

"Can we go, Dad?" Yolstav asked.

Edward thought for a moment, "I don't mind, but, Ms. Grant's one of the toughest interviewers out there. I'll ask her and let Mom know."

"OK," Yolstav replied.

With that the dragon and superheroine headed toward CatCo Plaza.

"Lead the way, Supergirl," Edward said.

She smiled softly, "This way."

It took a few minutes for them to arrive as Kara scanned the building for her civilian boss.

Edward was thinking, though, _If Ms. Grant knows Kara and Supergirl are one and the same, she's playing her cards close to the chest. A smart move on her part. Kara's not as careful as Clark is, though. It's something I will have to discuss with her. She can't be hurt in the physical sense, but, like me, she can be hurt emotionally and mentally. That happens, and, worst case situation is that Clark and I have to stop her. She's mentioned this Maxwell Lord character several times in emails. He bears watching, even though he worked with Kara and Cat a few times. But, he was probably looking out for his own interests regardless._

Kara was also thinking of things. _It's interesting to see Edward and his family here, and, he was a big help at that fire. But, if he's on a vacation, why National City for a stop-over? Probably to check up on me and how my life is shaping up. He did say that my life was mine to forge. He's kept that so far._

 _But, given the situation with Non, I would have gladly accepted his help. Wish he could have said something._

They arrived at CatCo and, sure enough, Cat Grant, the Queen of all Media was there.

"Supergirl," she said, "Welcome back to Catco Plaza. You, too, Mr. Barnes."

Edward smiled, "You can call me Edward. I'm not one to get upset at being on a first name basis right away."

"Then, call me Cat," she said.

She said a moment later, "Would you care for some refreshments? I normally have my assistant do this, but, she's not here. I don't mind getting it."

Supergirl raised an eyebrow slightly, "I don't mind, Cat. I'll get it."

"You don't mind going to Noonan's this time of night?" Cat asked, "Fine, I haven't eaten yet. Lettuce wrap, extra crispy."

Edward handed her some money and said, "Sounds tasty. Get me one as well, please, and I'll let you surprise me with a beverage. Get something for yourself. There enough here, I hope, to cover Cat as well."

Cat, however, would have none of that and gave Supergirl her share, "Thank you, but, I got this. Latte for me, hot, with Skim Milk."

Supergirl nodded and flew off.

"That's sweet of her to do that," Edward said.

Cat gave the slightest of smiles, "She doesn't have to. It's not like she's my assistant, Keira."

"Cat," Edward said gently, "She already knows that you know about her. Thank you for not telling the world, though. That's one reason I will grant you a no holds barred interview, so, ask away. But, I have one request to relay from my girls: Would you be OK if they sat in? They wanted to meet you."

Cat nodded, "I have no problem with that. And, yes, I've known for several months that Kara and Supergirl are one and the same. That's why I haven't fired her, even though she sometimes gave me cause to. If I told the world, well, she slipped and admitted that Superman's her cousin. It wouldn't take much for really bad guys to put the pieces together and hurt those she and Superman love."

"I read that article," Edward admitted, "It was well written and got my interest. I've given her advice as well, at times. But, I know she really leans on you for wise counsel. You and her have a good relationship as a result. She doesn't even complain as Kara about you working her so hard."

"She's the best assistant I ever had," Cat admitted, "It was hard for me to promote her. I should have given her a window view, though."

Edward nodded, "Probably would have been a good idea. You still can, I would hope. It would be a subtle way of saying, 'I know you can't go out and save the world if you have to race through the building first.'

"Let me contact my wife and let her know to bring the girls over."

Edward pulled his smartphone and called Raven.

"Hi, Sweetheart," he said, "I cleared it with Cat. Bring Cally and Yolstav over, please."

"All right, hon," she said, "Can you cast a tear?"

"Of course," he said, "See you in a few."

He hung up and said, "They will be ready in a moment. You might want to get a picture of this. I will open a portal to allow them to step through."

Cat didn't hesitate and got her camera app opened up.

"Bex Nu!" Edward said in the Dragon tongue, "Luv do Oblivion."

The portal opened and Raven came out with the girls.

Cat looked interested in that and asked, "What is that?"

"It's a Tear of Oblivion," Edward explained, "It's a magical portal that serves two purposes. The first is how you saw this. If the person casting the spell knows where to open the far end, it's a portal where others can step into it and a moment later, they are at their destination.

"The second is potentially more dangerous. If opened without a destination, it will suck the victim in like a vacuum and spit them out either in the future or in another universe. In very rare cases, both may happen."

"And what can the destination be?" Cat asked.

"A place, usually, but, it can be a person or another dragon as well," Edward said, "The latter is also rare."

Cat looked at the new arrivals and smiled, "Welcome to CatCo."

"Cat, I'd like you to meet my wife, Raven," Edward said, "As well as my daughters, Callisto and Yolstav or if you'd prefer, Stephanie. Girls, this is Ms. Grant."

Raven said, "It's nice to finally meet you. Supergirl's had nothing but the highest praise for you."

"Oh?" Cat said, nonplussed at the news.

"Of course," Edward said, looking at Kara, "Cat, you serve the same role I did with many young heroes and dragons. You have no idea how much of an impact you have made with Supergirl and Kara. Both need such a strong woman in her life. She's really lucky and blessed to have you."

Kara blushed, "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Sup…No, _Kara,_ even the strongest person needs someone to be a sounding board. Cat is certainly someone I would want in my corner. I have noticed that the title she carries is well deserved. When Cat is angry, how many people in National City have had their careers ruined?"

Kara rolled her eyes, "Oh, I know all about that." She sighed, "When I was infected with Red Kryptonite, I almost killed her. Next day, she had to denounce me. I don't blame her, though. Max Lord did that to me and even though he did help with Myriad, I haven't forgiven him."

"Oh, I plan on getting into his face," Edward said darkly, "Off the record, Cat, please." Cat nodded her assent, "Go on."

"Maxwell Lord has not come face to face with an annoyed dragon, much less an angry dragon. I consider Superman to be a close friend, and I consider this lovely young woman here to be part of that. Raven and the girls will tell you that once someone meets my high standards for being a close, personal friend...Messing with them is messing with me. Kara, I'm so sorry for not having your back when you could have used it." He took a bite of the lettuce wrap and raised an eyebrow.

"Edward," Kara said, "You do not have to apologize, though. You did promise to let me forge my own path, remember?"

"Oh, I know," Edward said, "But, I will tell you this: Don't ever hesitate to call me when there is something that you do need me for. Accepting help or asking for help is not a weakness, it's a sign of inner strength to me. I will speak for the Titans here as well in saying that we all stand ready should you need the help.

"Yes, I did promise to let you forge your own path, Kara. And, I am happy to do so."

Cat looked on and smiled inwardly. She knew that her assistant was trying so hard to balance being a private citizen and assistant with her superhero persona. Any help that this dragon and his family could give her, she knew Kara would appreciate.

Kara reached into the Noonan's bag and said, "I took the liberty of getting Raven and the girls something. Hope that's all right?"

"That's fine," Edward replied with a smirk, "This is pretty good. Thank you for getting this. Do I owe you anything?"

She shook her head, "Nah. I don't mind since you helped with that fire. A small token of my thanks. Consider it splitting the costs?"

Edward rolled his eyes, "Works for me. As long as I can share the costs, it doesn't bother me as much."

"Why is that?" Cat asked, "And, are we back on the record?"

Edward nodded, "Yes, we are. To answer your question. When I was hiding what I am, I had to work for my food, clothing and other things like everyone else. I either traded furs for goods when I was a trapper, or running a metalsmithing shop or other occupations that I used as a cover.

"Once I 'came out' full time and reembraced what I am, folks were sometimes too willing to just give me things. At first, I didn't mind it too much, but, after a decade or two it got tiresome. I wanted to pay for what I bought, not have it handed to me. I will accept a friendly discount, as long as I can pay something in exchange."

"How difficult was it for you to embrace what you are?" Cat asked.

"It was difficult," Edward admitted, "For most of my life, I had to hide my true self. You see, from the time I was young until about 1750, with a short exception from about 30 AC to 80 AD, I was hiding in plain sight. No one really suspected that there was a dragon in their midst.

"The exception was in ancient Greece when I was friends with a warrior woman and her sidekick. The warrior, Xena, had walked away from being a warlord and had accepted the friendship of a young woman named Gabrielle. Well, one day, another warlord, bent on revenge, attacked the town I was in. Xena, Gabrielle and I teamed up for the first time to repel the invaders. At the end of the fight, their leader, Callisto surrendered and agreed to change sides.

"I took charge of her path to redemption and we became lovers in the process.

"During that time, Callisto and I decided to go on a quest. During that time, we discovered that Gabrielle was pregnant. Forgive me, I skipped a minor detail. Callisto and I came across Xena and Gabrielle and while there was a lack of trust at first between the two warriors, after Gabrielle was discovered to be pregnant, we all headed towards an Amazon village to wait out the pregnancy.

"As we traveled, we also encountered some slave traders who realized that Gabrielle would fetch far more money and made a fatal mistake in trying to kidnap her."

"They met your protective side, dad?" Cally asked. Cat glared, though, before deciding that it was a good question regardless.

"They sure did," Edward replied, "They found out just how much I detest slavery. I took them out without the barest hint of regret. Targeting an honor sister was worthy of the beatdown Xena, Callisto and I gave them. I also took revenge for the slaves we discovered dead in their caravan. I didn't know that until after the fact, though.

"Sweetheart, please let Ms. Grant conduct the interview."

"Thank you. I take it your one daughter is named after this Callisto?" Cat asked.

Edward nodded, "She is. I had taken a vow to honor my first love's memory. I suppose I could have ignored that after her mind snapped. You see, Gabrielle had twins, a boy and a girl. She entrusted Callisto and I with her son. We lost him in a severe thunderstorm and Callisto could not cope with the loss of another relative. She had lost her mother and sister in one of Xena's raids and that broke her the first time. Losing our son broke her again, this time for good. It was a rare failure for me. One that cost me over 2,000 years because I refused to let myself feel that way for a long time."

"I'm sorry," Kara said softly.

"It's OK, Supergirl," Edward said, "I am finally at peace with what happened. I got a small measure of revenge after someone handed Callisto, who by now had become a demi-goddess, a hind's blood infused dagger."

"A what?" Cat said.

"The blood of a Hind – a human-deer hybrid – can kill an immortal or a god. A mutual enemy gave Callisto a dagger that had the blood of a Hind on it. She killed herself immediately. When Xena told me that Callisto committed suicide, well, I lost it."

"Back up," Cat said, "You mentioned this Xena again. Is she immortal?"

Edward shook his head, "No. I'm not totally sure how it happened, but, her soul was tied to a mortal from this era. When Angie, a close friend, would pull out Xena's sword, they would trade places. Xena would be there to handle fights that Angie could not. However, an evil force messed with the history of the planet and after the timeline was restored, Dave and Angie were exiled into the year 1750 when I came across them. I helped them survive that first winter and, the first night, Xena's astral form contacted me to give me a head's up on what I should expect.

"But, a few months later, I was visiting a hidden realm and it was the day after Cally killed herself. I knew that the folks there were hiding something and I sort of insisted on knowing. Xena told me of Cally's suicide. A mutual enemy, who is unworthy to be named, did that to take vengeance against me. This enemy wanted hy then new friends to perish in the harsh winter. My assistance prevented that, and, that was not something they were aware of."

Edward sighed, "I didn't take the news well, my apparent failure coming back to kick me in the johnson. It felt as if my life had ended, but, even then, I had friends who had earned the right to be in my family. They rallied around me, comforted me and gave back some of the strength I had shown them."

Cat looked sympathetic as she said, "I am sorry for your loss."

Edward said, "It's OK. I've moved on since then. Callisto was able to return and spared me a lot of grief later on. That's a long story, though, that I think can wait until another day."

"Moving along," Cat said, "Everyone knows how you spend time in an alternate universe. What is it like over there where there's an entire race of dragons? Do they rule over the planet?"

"No," Edward said glaring, "We do not rule over any nation or people. Our task there is to maintain the balance. It's an eternal mission set upon us by the First. You see, over there, when the Earth was formed, the elements fought for supremacy and once the First calmed them, he created the first dragons to maintain that. Each clan of dragons is responsible for balancing out their counterpart. Life and death, light and dark, Water and Earth. Fire is in the mix as well.

"Since the dragon predate human by millions of years, since the time of the dinosaurs actually, this mission supersedes ruling over nations."

"Would dragons rule if given a chance?" Cat asked next.

"Never," Edward said, "The most that dragons would do is advise. It's something that if you study my own interactions with governments now or in the past 150 years you will see I adhere to. And, this was long before I knew of my origins. I have advised US Presidents as well as leaders around the world. They are free to take my advice or dismiss it without worrying that I would attack them for defying my will."

"Yet, you have intervened in wars," Cat noted, "Why is that?"

"For freedom, Cat," Edward replied, "I have always believed that mankind should have the freedom to forge a path. I have fought against tyrants and dictators who enslaved their population, denying them basic human rights. I have taken that duty seriously, yet, there are times when I have stayed out of it. Sometimes, much to my regret, though.

"Should I intervene more often? I wish I could, but, that runs the risk of the people world-wide turning against me, saying that I am trying to take over the world. I have zero interest in being a worldwide dictator."

"I see," Cat mused, "I suppose that makes sense."

"Cat, I usually do not like to intervene unless there is a pressing need to," Edward said, "Yes, I intervened in World War II on the Allied side. Hitler and Hirohito had to be stopped. Looking back, I could have assassinated Hitler with a clear conscience. But, would someone else twice as nasty have filled that power vacuum? Would Stalin have taken over instead causing a genocide that made the 6 million Jews killed look small? Yes, history shows that Stalin killed far more civilians.

"I know it's difficult to allow a tyrant like Hitler or Hussein to continue on. I hear of the atrocities that North Korea's leadership continues to commit as well as terror groups like ISIS and it burns me that this happens.

"Yet, I know that as a citizen of the United States, I cannot just invade to remove a regime without proper authority. I am as bound by the laws of this nation as Supergirl is. Also, I am bound by dragon law as well."

"Even here?" Supergirl asked.

"Yes," Edward said, "Especially here. I am an informal ambassador between this world and theirs. I am Heir to Fire over there..."

"Heir to Fire?" Cat asked.

Edward smiled, "Yes. You see, the dragons over there are governed by seven Grand Dragons called the Circle. Each one is older than I am and they have a dragon who is heir to their position, title and powers.

"They are charged with maintaining the balance, making and enforcing law, blessing dragon unions, and, whenever necessary, to fight. Over a decade ago, I agreed to uptake the title of Heir to Fire, and it's something I take as seriously as Prince Charles takes his being Prince of Wales."

"What other duties do you have over there?" Cat asked next.

"I am also Commander-in-Chief of Lair's military," Edward said, "It has the same meaning as the President being Commander-in-Chief of the US Armed Forces.

"And, I am still a member of the Titans in both realms, so, there's usually a lot on my plate. Currently, I am on a vacation from those roles, with the blessing of the Circle and the Titans."

"How long will this vacation last?" was the next question Cat asked.

"From the Titans, a few more months," Edward said, "I started a year long vacation that was actually made public. From my duties in Lair, that is up to me. I could end it tomorrow or a decade or longer. But, I won't be on vacation that long. When duty calls, well, I have to be there."

It was perfect timing. As soon as Edward mentioned duty, both he and Supergirl heard sirens in the distance, and, there were a lot of them.

"Excuse me," she said, "I have to go. Sounds like a high speed chase on the interstate."

"You want me to come with you?" Edward said.

"I got this," she replied smiling, "But, thank you for offering." She left before Edward could reply.

"She's head-strong," Raven noted.

"It runs in the family, I think," Edward said, "Superman's the same way. It's her story to write, so, we have to let her handle it."

"How close are you to Superman?" Cat asked.

"He's a good friend to me and my family," Edward replied, "He's certainly one person I want my children being around. Good family values, strong sense of right and wrong, and never hesitates to do the right thing. Yet, he is also writing his own story apart from Supergirl's. Do I sometimes need his help? Yes, there are things that require the Man of Steel's help. On the other hand, there are times when he needs my help. It's a two way street."

"Interesting," Cat said.

"How so?" Edward asked, "Even a being as powerful as I am has times when help is needed and I am not afraid to admit that. I might be a member of the Titans officially, but, should the Justice League ask for additional firepower, they know that I am there, ready, willing and capable."

Edward's head tilted and for a moment, his facial features changed to concern.

"Might I turn on the news for a moment?" he asked, "Something's wrong."

"Of course," Cat said, "My office."

They ran into her office and saw Supergirl on the ground, not moving.

"Forgive me, Cat," Edward said, "This interview's over for now." He looked intently at the screen and ran back to the balcony and jumped off, morphing to his hybrid form before streaking upwards.

He teleported to the scene and landed.

He went over to the prone Supergirl and said, "What happened?"

"She got hit by some intense electricity," a paramedic said.

He rolled her over and felt for a pulse. It was weak and thready.

He knew that she kept a smart-phone in a pocket and got it out, only to discover it was fried.

"I need everyone to stand back and cover their eyes," Edward said, "I need to access my Blessing of Light to jump start Supergirl's healing."

He activated that blessing and his body started to shine brightly, brighter than the sun and pumping out a lot of solar power. He decided to pick her up and flew to an altitude where his blessing wouldn't blind onlookers.

[Raven?] he asked via their link, [Ask Cat if she knows of anyone who can zap Kara.]

A moment later, [She said Livewire. A former employee of hers named Leslie Willis. Somehow, she has the power to generate electricity and travel through power lines.]

[OK,] Edward said, [I'm going to have to handle this one. Kara's been hurt.]

[Is that why you've turned on your blessing?]

[Seeing that it's dark, I have to. She can absorb my light as well as she does the sunlight,] Edward replied, heading for the suite.

Kara started to stir and she saw Edward carrying her.

"Easy, Kara," Edward said, "You took a powerful shock."

"Why are you glowing?" She asked.

"It's called the Blessing of Light," he explained, "It's an enhanced state of being. It increases my abilities greatly, but, in your case, being in direct contact is recharging your powers. It's time that Leslie Willis is drained of her powers."

"Livewire," Kara groused as they landed and Edward's blessing faded, "I fell into a trap."

"If it's alright with you," Edward said, "I'll handle her. I absorb lightning, and, I suspect that if she does as well, I might be able to overload her."

"How about we tackle her together?" Kara asked.

"No," Edward said gently, "She almost killed you. Had I not used my blessing, you'd still be out. I'll track her down, but, tell you what, I won't stop you, even if I could, once you feel up to it."

Edward placed Kara on the roof and said, "I'll find her."

[EDWARD!] he heard through the link [Livewire's h...]

[Raven!]

Kara saw Edward's form change from bronze to black as his eye color changed as well.

He teleported back to Catco without a word and Kara realized that Livewire had attacked.

Edward emerged from the teleport to see his wife and children out cold. Cat was gone.


	3. Livewire learns not to annoy Edward

**Chapter 2**  
 **[Catco Plaza]**

To say that Edward was angry was an understatement as he checked his family for injuries. He snarled in rage even though they seemed to be stunned. It didn't matter to him: His wife and daughters were blindsided and out cold, and Kara's employer had been kidnapped. Kara would be fine, though.

In fact, she flew in a moment later, her fatigue from earlier forgotten as she said, "Let me check them out." She gave them a quick look with her X-Ray vision and sighed with relief.

"They're just stunned," she confirmed, "Nothing broken, Edward."

She looked around and she said, "Dangit! She's got Cat, again!"

"I noticed," Edward said, his voice dropping with venom, "I'm not happy, but, we'll find Cat." He morphed back to human, though, mainly to let himself calm down.

The power flickered and a voice said, "I see you have a new friend, Supergirl. I hope he doesn't mind that I knocked his family down for the count. If you want to see Cat alive, meet me in the park. You know which one, Supergirl." The TV screens that had shown a woman in her 30s with white hair with a tint of purple as well.

"What is it you want, Leslie?" Edward snarled.

"Nothing but revenge on Cat and Supergirl, nothing else," she said, "You can stay out of it, unless you want to see Cat fried. And, my friend wants to get rid of Kara Danvers."

The video screens faded to black and Kara said, "Follow me."

"Let me handle her, Kara," Edward said, "She attacked my family. That's worthy of a beatdown. Also, her lightning won't affect me."

Edward went back to his hybrid form and they headed off towards the park.

A few moments later they landed and Edward's empathic senses told him that Cat was nearby, but, oddly calm.

"Cat's OK," Edward said, "I can feel her vibrations from here. She's not concerned currently."

"Good," Kara said, "Cat's normally calm in a crisis anyway."

Edward continued scanning and was surprised to sense two others near Cat.

"Liveware has a partner, I think," Edward said, "But, the read I am getting is weird, as if one person has something else."

"Siobhan," Kara grumbled, "And me without earplugs."

Edward raised an eyebrow and pulled out his communicator.

"Edward to Ralph," he said, "Pull the employee records of CatCo Worldwide Media. Look for someone named Siobhan. Might want to look in the former employees database as well."

Ralph replied a moment later, "One entry: Smythe, Siobhan. Hired as personal assistant to Cat Grant. Was fired six weeks later for cause: Smythe attempted to undercut CatCo by contacting Perry White. She was later banned from the property by Cat Grant after attempting to frame Kara Danvers. File is marked 'Not eligible for rehire'.

"An interesting note: She has been blacklisted by every media outlet from National City, to Central City to Metropolis."

"That's her," Kara said, "I got rid of her while under the influence of Red Kryptonite. Oddly enough, it was the only thing I did that I do not regret. She teamed up with Livewire a few weeks later. Watch out for her. She has a very powerful scream, like a banshee."

Edward smirked, "Been there, done that. A friend of mine had an alternate personality with a banshee scream. Besides, I can protect my hearing.

"Be careful, Edward," Ralph cautioned, "She is extremely dangerous. Her sonic scream is well beyond safe levels for anyone and creates shock waves capable of knocking even a dragon down."

"Understood," Edward said, "I'll keep that in mind." He closed the connection and they headed off to where Cat was at.

"Kara, if she does let loose her scream, get behind me, I'll morph to a size large enough to block as much of the sonic waves as possible," Edward advised.

The two women were not facing the right way and Edward said, "Hey, Sparky...Shriekie."

"You've got to be joking," Supergirl said, "That's what the Flash called them."

Livewire said, "Kill them both."

Edward morphed to a larger size as Siobhan screamed!

Edward retracted his earlobes to protect his hearing as Supergirl took cover behind Edward's increased bulk. That protected her hearing.

The scream was like a large truck slamming into Edward, though, forcing him to dig his talons into the ground. Kara also added her own strength to prevent Edward from falling on her.

Siobhan stopped and saw Edward's scales darkening again.

"You'll have to do better than that," Edward said, his voice now deeper, more animalistic.

Livewire decided to attack and fired off a rather strong bolt of lightning. Her smirk faded as the power was absorbed into Edward's body.

He laughed, "Thanks for the power boost. My turn."

His spine light up a brilliant white and he loosed his own lightning that forced Livewire to flee into the nearest light post. Edward teleported to the top of the nearby building as Livewire emerged.

Silver Banshee, though, aimed towards Cat and smirked, "You took Kara Danvers word over mine. Since I can't get her, I suppose that you'll do."

She inhaled and started to loose another scream when Supergirl slammed into her side, causing Banshee to lose her target.

Meanwhile, Edward morphed to his hybrid form and charged at Livewire, she struck out and hit Edward, knocking him aside for a moment before his tail hit her.

"You're a real piece of work, lady," Edward said, "Give me ONE reason I shouldn't ship you to the South Pole for attacking my family!"

"You do and Cat Grant DIES!" Livewire said, trying to fire off more lightning. Edward said, "Your lightning is mere sparks to me. I'm able to absorb a helluva lot more, and, will only recharge my own powers."

Livewire decided to try a physical attack and tried to punch Edward. Previously, she had been able to knock Kara across the street, with Edward, all he did was sell the move like a WWE wrestler and struck back with his tail a second time, knocking Livewire across the roof. She decided to retreat into the wires again.

Edward was trying to find his target and he realized that Livewire would be difficult to take down as long as she had a means of escape.

He saw Cat shackled to a park bench and teleported over to her.

"About time," she said.

"Really, Cat?" Edward said as he snapped off the chains, "Get going."

Cat tried to move, only to be blocked by a charge of lightning.

"No, you don't!" Livewire said as she reformed.

"Come on, Leslie!" Cat said, frustration showing.

"Stand down, Cat," Edward said, "I got a couple of secret weapons that Livewire doesn't know about."

His eyes started glowing and he said, "Hey, CaptainSparklez! Yeah, you poor excuse for Katy Perry. You want Cat Grant? You gotta get through me."

"Oh, that's not a problem," she snarled. She started to go into the nearby lights, only to hear, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Before she could react, she was encased in a black sphere that even with her powers, she couldn't escape from.

It wasn't a lack of trying, though. Leslie fired off more power only to see it absorbed.

"LET ME GO!" she screamed.

"Not happening," Edward said as Banshee realized that her partner was trapped and let loose a scream to try to dislodge Edward. He simply activated his Blessing of Light once more, rendering the scream useless as he blasted her with a beam of hard light that punched through the sonic waves and she flew back.

By then, Raven and the girls had recovered and the fight became heavily lopsided when they arrived. And, neither of them were happy. Cally was in her full dragon form, as was Yolstav. Both their spine ridges were glowing as well. Yolstav's was red, of course, as she's a full blooded Fire Dragon. Cally's was white currently. She had inherited her father's breath weapons, so, she was going to use lightning. Raven was shrouded in black, ready to use her own dark powers.

Kara plowed into Banshee then and she decided that the best way to silence her was to fly her up to an altitude where she would find it hard to breathe. So, Kara rocketed to about 40,000 feet and, sure enough, Siobhan passed out. Kara then brought her back down to the ground and wrapped her up in some wire. Raven ripped a hunk of metal off a street sign and used that to wrap around her mouth before Kara used her strength to mold that around the rest of Banshee's head.

Meanwhile, Livewire was likewise out of options. Her attacks were merely fueling Edward's powers and without that, she had nothing left to fight with. Being trapped in a black sphere that was more robust than Raven's sphere meant she could not even escape easily.

"OK, Leslie," Edward said, "The way I see this, you have a choice: give up, or you can drain your powers in a futile attempt to escape, or I drop the shield and hit you with my full force lightning. Even if you can absorb it for a few moments, you will quickly become overwhelmed and that would likely short out your powers...that is, if it doesn't kill you in the process. Or maybe I phase you right into the ground. Put you in up to your neck and, you're powerless as electricity goes to ground, remember. Regardless...you are under arrest for kidnapping Cat Grant, Three counts of felony assault with intent to commit great bodily harm, two counts of child abuse, and probably escape from lawful custody.

"Also, you can't see this, but, my kids are ready to light you up."

What Leslie said was not fit for children's ears.

"Fine," Edward said, "have it your way." His ridges lit up as the power built to maximum.

He winked at Kara, who was starting to wonder if Livewire was about to die.

The shield was dropped and before Livewire could react, she was hit with Edward's lightning as well as Cally's less intense lightning. Yolstav, also fired off a small fireball that singed Livewire, but, didn't set her aflame. She was, indeed, able to absorb the attacks for about five seconds before the force was too much and with an explosion, her cells were drained completely. It didn't kill her, luckily. But, her hair returned to a blonde color as she lay there.

Edward had stopped the attack the second Leslie's powers were overloaded and he went over to her.

"She'll wake up with a nasty headache, I think," Edward said, gently rolling Leslie over, "But, her powers are likely gone for a while, if not for good.

"As for you, Ms. Smythe...You are also under arrest."

By then, she was awake and struggling to free herself. Between the wires keeping her bound and the mask keeping her jaws shut, she was not able to use her range weapon or to attack again.

"I bet underneath this hideous makeup, there's a rather pretty woman there," Edward surmised, "It's a shame that you are going to jail for a very long time. You're lucky that Supergirl handled you. Helping to take my family down is usually a near fatal mistake. Your partner is depowered, probably for life.

"But, I will tell you, here and now, Siobhan Smythe...Go after Supergirl, Kara Danvers, Cat Grant or ANYONE at CatCo Worldwide Media again, I will take it as an attack upon my very person and I will not be as merciful as I am now. Escape from custody again...I'll bury you into such a deep hole that no amount of banshee screams will get you out...and I'll throw away the hole.

"Come after my family again; I. will. end. you.

"Supergirl, you may want to take Ms. Grant back to her office. Siobhan thinks that she's got a loud scream, she's sadly mistaken. As Raven and my daughters are unharmed, we're done here. I'm sure that the police would want to take these two back to jail, anyway."

Kara smiled, "Works for me. Are you ready, Cat?"

Cat had been watching the battle from a safe distance and recording it once she was freed.

"Wait," she said, "I want to see how this ends. It's prime front page material!"

Supergirl picked up her boss and flew away to a safe distance. She was grinning, though.

Siobhan watched as Edward went from a Blessing of Light to his Blessing of Death. His form changed to a withered, nearly skeletal form and Edward snarled, "Your scream is nothing to me. Let me show you what happens when a Death Dragon gives a mortal even a taste of true power."

Then, he roared. Unlike when Grand Death used that attack on Edward over a decade ago, Edward was merciful, even in his cooling anger. Banshee's eyes rolled into her head as she passed out, and, Edward stopped the attack. After making sure that she was merely out cold, he knew she'd be like that for hours.

The NCPD arrived and the incident commander asked, "She's not dead, is she?"

Edward smiled, "No, but, Ms. Smythe will think twice before wanting out of her cell. She'll be out for at least 12 hours, maybe 24. Livewire, however, was overloaded and I suspect her powers are gone for good. Please send some detectives to CatCo Plaza to get Cat Grant's statement."

"That'll happen in the morning," the Sarge said.

"Please charge Livewire with felony kidnapping, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment of one Cat Grant," Edward said, "Three counts of Felony Assault with intent to do great bodily harm, and two counts of child abuse and Endangering the Welfare of Children. Namely my daughters. Please inform the DA: No plea bargains.

"Siobhan Smythe...Conspiracy, plus the charges I am filing against Leslie Willis. She was obviously in on the entire plan, so, she gets the added charge. No plea bargain for her either."

The sergeant nodded in agreement, "That's on top of some other charges the DA will want to file. Ms. Willis here somehow broke out of her secured cell and took Banshee with her."

By then, Supergirl had returned. She had taken Cat back after Edward's display of the Blessing of Death.

"Ms. Grant is back in her office with a latte," she said, "Officer, just how did they escape? Didn't Barry Allen give you a means to contain meta-humans?"

"He did, Supergirl," the officer said, "We're not sure how Livewire escaped her cell."

"Please tell me that there aren't electrical circuits in her cell," Edward said, "Look around, officers! She can travel through power lines at the speed of light or damn well close to it. If there was a circuit in her cell that wasn't self-contained, that's probably how she got away."

"We'll pass that along," the officer said.

"It may not be needed," Edward replied, "Between my lightning attack, my daughter's dual attacks, Leslie Willis is likely depowered for a long time, if not for good."

After a few more minutes conversation, everyone left the scene. Edward went back to Catco with Supergirl while Raven and the girls went back to the suite to recover.

"Supergirl," Edward asked, "Who is this Barry Allen?"

"He's the Flash," Kara responded, "From another Earth, actually."

"Well," Edward replied, "Seems that there's even more Earths than I thought. I know of at least three now."

"How many have me there?" Kara asked, curious.

"Just here, for now," Edward said, "In the one universe where Solor resides, there is no CatCo and as far as I know, no Kara Zor-El. Clark's truly the lone survivor of Krypton, I think.

"But, Kara, I am not 100% certain. For all I know, if you have a twin there, she might not have revealed herself. I can have the AI there look for you, though."

"I'd like that," Kara said.

He pulled his communicator and called Alice, the AI in the alternative realm.

"Alice," Edward said, "I need you to search for a Kara Danvers in all databases and facial recognition in the lower 48."

"That's a tall order," Alice replied, "Are you looking for this universes' Supergirl?"

"I am," Edward said, "It's a favor for my world's Supergirl."

"I need to know what she looks like," Alice said.

Edward handed the communicator to Kara and Alice said, "Is this live?"

Edward nodded, "You can talk to Alice, Kara. She'll need a voiceprint as well to help narrow things down."

Kara ended up talking to Alice for several minutes and when they landed at the hotel, in fact, Edward thought that they would get along just fine.

As they landed, Alice said, "Solor wants to talk to Edward for a moment."

Kara handed the communicator back and Edward said, "Greetings, Brother! What's up?"

"Not too much," Solor replied, "I was wanting to see how your vacation is going and, well, I need to ask for some advice as well."

"Vacation's going pretty good," Edward said, "We're in our National City, visiting Supergirl for a few days."

"Oh!" Solor exclaimed, "That's pretty cool. Tell her I said 'Hi'."

"You already did," Supergirl said, loud enough for Solor to hear her, "Edward's told me a little bit about you and all good stuff."

That got Solor to turn his head for a moment, "Thank you," he replied.

"You know," Edward said, "You could come over for a little bit if time allows."

Solor said, "I'll have to do that. Maybe tomorrow?"

"I can be here after work," Supergirl said, "Also, Cat mentioned that she'd like to continue the interview and see about getting you on some of her shows."

"That's doable, Supergirl," Edward said, "Like I told Solor, we'll be here for a few days, but, can extend that if necessary.

"Solor, you said that you needed some advice?"

"Ahh, yes," Solor responded, "What did you do when David was going through a rebellious phase? Susie's starting to go through that, I think."

"Hmm," Edward said, "David never really went through a phase like that. Things were different in the late 1790s when he started to mature more. Like Cally, his hybrid DNA altered his growth initially. But, being raised by Paula and I with help from his namesake, Xena and others really mitigated any 'rebellious' phase.

"Just be patient with her like I saw with Komi and my girls and you should be fine.

"How are things with her training with Vicky?"

Solor smiled, "About as well as with you. She remembers what happened in Japan and doesn't want to have her own repeat."

"What happened in Japan?" Kara asked.

"Short story," Edward replied, "Raven was killed by another dragon at Mt. Fuji. My dark heritage asserted itself. I killed that other dragon with my lightning. I started for Tokyo, intending on exacting a horrible revenge. Solor tried to stop me and I almost killed him before his daughter and my niece broke through the rage. As this was in Solor's realm, the Circle, our people's government, put me on trial for treason. I was banished from that realm for a while. But, a Life dragon I had just met restored Raven to life when Susie was breaking through. Solor and the Heiress to the Darkness, Vilea, spent months with me to repay some debts and helped me to heal. During that time, though. I found out that Solor and Vilea, now Vicky, are blood siblings."

Kara surprised Edward with a hug and said, "I know how you feel."

"Kara," Edward said, "There's no way you …" Edward stopped himself, "Wait...My apologies. You would know how I felt, and then some. Losing everything you have ever known, your parents, Jor-El and Lara, your friends and Krypton itself."

Kara smiled, "No offense taken. I do miss them all, of course. You should have seen what I did to Non a few months ago. He attacked me with a Black Mercy and I was back on Krypton, living a normal life. Alex was able to get me to reject the dream reality. I beat Non badly."

"So," Edward surmised, "You lost your home planet twice. I am so sorry, Kara. No one should have to face this heartache even once, let alone twice. No wonder you let your anger go, it sounds like. I don't blame you, either."

Kara's eyes widened hearing that, "Why?"

Edward shrugged, "I know what it's like to have anger management issues, that's all. It's not fun. Turns out that Solor also had his own anger management issues and our other sister, Sosfil, had her own issues. That's a long story that is probably best saved for another time, though. I don't want to violate her trust, as well.

"You taking your anger out on another Kryptonian, to me, is far better than taking out that anger on an Earthling."

Kara blushed, "You know about that incident with the driver, then?"

"Of course," Edward said with a suddenly stern look, "Kara, I strive daily to use only the force necessary to cope with a threat. That guy, while angry, had no chance of beating you in a fight. Just catching his fist would have been enough, I think. If he broke his own hand hitting you instead, the result would have been the same...He'd lose the fight.

"I do that because if I went full on anger mode and snapped some ass who tried to attack me like a twig, I would have quickly lost the trust of people here. They'd fear me for what I am truly capable of. I do not want that ever again. I once lost the trust of people in Solor's universe, and, it took a long time for me to prove otherwise. Kara, you are a very fortunate young woman. You might have lost the trust of National City for a while, but, you regained that trust after a short while. It took me a lot longer to restore the trust of people there. The Japanese for a while were wanting me to commit Hari-Kari, they were so angry at me. A city is one thing. An entire nation is another."

Kara reached over and took Edward's hand, "Thank you. You're right, Edward. Losing the trust of National City pales next to losing a country, even Japan. I take it they eventually forgave you?"

"They did," Edward said, "When I was allowed to return to that realm, they insisted that I help rebuild what was damaged or destroyed during the fight with some Dark Dragons who were sore losers of a very, very long war. In retrospect, I should have sat that one out."

"And turn your back on your duty there?" Callisto asked, "Dad, I remember that as well. You had a reason to not take part: Me. I remember you turning black as a moonless night after Mom died and frying Malchoir. I remember Susie stopping your rampage." Originally Cally thought that Raven has fallen ill, not actually died. Edward waited until she was 10 to tell her the whole story.

"Sweetie," Edward said, "That is a night I will never forget, despite the fact that I was in a blackout when my Darkness asserted itself. A night that I could have done something that forever branded ALL dragons there as monsters needing to be destroyed. Your cousin risked her life to stop me. You were too little to fly then, but, it wouldn't have mattered. Susie took the risk that the love I have for her, equally shared with you, would break through my rage. I couldn't have struck her down and that forced my darkness aside. But, during that time, Kara, it was my niece who did more to break through an otherwise unbreakable rage. She helped me heal. She could have said that she never wanted to see me again and never forgave me. She did the opposite, though. Her love never wavered, and, I was forgiven by a hatchling who had every right and reason not to."

He sighed, "That's why you must never lose control, Kara Zor-El."

Kara saw the sad look on his brow and said, "I hope Raven doesn't mind." She pulled Edward into another hug.

Raven was also saddened. After so long, Edward was still beating himself up a bit. But, she knew why he told Supergirl the basic story. She needed to know what the dangers are of a superhero losing control. Edward's story would help Kara on her own path, she hoped. But, seeing that he was able to talk about this without the self loathing that used to accompany the story told her that he had found the closure he needed. She suspected it was due to his trip to a Prime Universe and talking to some of the heirs there who were neutral in their advice.

Also, she didn't want to admit it, but Grand Fire was correct. The decade that Solor had disappeared forced Edward to set aside his own feelings about that particular evening. He didn't have the time to be depressed. For that, she was grateful.

Raven certainly didn't mind one bit that Supergirl was hugging her husband as he returned it.

"I think I understand," Kara said, "Cat once told me to find the anger beneath the anger. I didn't know what she meant until James and I took out our frustrations on a car or a punching bag. I remember after punching the engine block out of the car, that she was right. There was a really deep seeded anger that needed to be acknowledged and dealt with."

"You should come over to Titan Tower," Edward said, "We've got some training programs that I find useful to blowing off steam. Also, I know you'd enjoy sparring with some folks who can go all out without fear of being injured."

"I do spar against J'onn at times," Kara objected.

"Is he as durable as the two of us, though?" Edward asked, "Kid, you need to be able to go all out as well as when to limit your strength. Since I suspect Alex is teaching you to manage that power, I have no problem teaching you how to size up someone in a hurry and then use the right amount of force to cope with that threat. As this would be helping you with your own story and path without interfering too much, I hope you'd accept the offer...Even if it's just sparring lessons at the least."

Kara nodded, "I'll have to think about it."

"That's fine," Edward replied, "No pressure at all."

Edward gave it some thought and finally asked, "You mentioned the Flash. I thought that he was a member of the Justice League?"

Kara looked puzzled before replying, "This was a different Flash. His name's Barry Allen and was from another universe. I know of this realm's Flash, but, not his identity. It's probably best this way."

"Interesting," Edward said, "I know of the Flash in this realm and Solor's realm. I know there is a League in that third, Prime Universe as well. So, Barry was from a fourth universe. Man, this is mind boggling. How did he get here, then?"

"He ran fast enough to open a breach between realms," Kara said, "He was wearing a tachyon device."

"Wow," Edward said, "A device that created superluminal particles?"

"I think so," Kara replied, "He explained that he was working on his speed and wasn't aware that he opened a breach to here. I'm lucky that happened. Siobhan had screamed and knocked me out a window. Had I hid the pavement as Kara..."

"You would have left a crater," Edward surmised, "Outing you as Supergirl. I take it Barry caught you?"

"Exactly," Kara said, "He snagged me from falling and ran me out of the city and into the mountains a good 30 miles out. It cost me a good sweater."

"The friction with the air burned the sweater?" Yolstav asked.

"Yeah," Kara said, "He went to put it out and had to stop. He didn't want to touch my breasts."

Edward smirked, "Smart move. Bet he was surprised."

"More dismayed," was the reply, "He rattled off a bunch of names that I haven't heard of before. But, he turned out to be a nice guy."

Edward smirked, "I can probably open a portal to his universe. It might be interesting to see. It's up to you, though."

"I may have to take you up on that offer," she replied.

Edward looked at the clock and noted that it was getting late.

"Dang," he said, "It's nearly midnight. I don't know about you, but, I do have a busy day ahead of me. I know that Cat may want to finish the interview and, I want to talk to Maxwell Lord."

Kara and Alex nodded.

"Don't be too hard on him," Alex said, "I can't believe I am saying this, but, he was a huge help with Myriad. I know it wasn't for altruistic purposes, but, he deserves some credit."

Edward smirked, "That, my dear, is why I planned on being nice. We missed most of that incident being in the other universe. He gets a pass. However, if Non dares show his face, that's a different story. Ralph was keeping tabs on your encounters, Kara. Non will find out what happens when my friends and/or family are attacked. Silver Banshee only got a tiny taste of my true power. Non will get the entire gallon of whoop-ass."

Speaking of the AI at Titan Tower, he caught the early write-up of Cat's article and called Edward.

"Ralph to Edward," he said over the communicator.

Edward flipped open the device and responded, "Go ahead, Ralph."

"Cat's already written her draft of the night's events," he said, "It's pretty good, if I do say so myself."

"Interesting," Kara said, "May I see it?"

"Go ahead, Ralph," Edward said when the AI wasn't sure.

The article appeared on the screen and Ralph decided to read it aloud as well.

A few minutes later, he finished and said, "Looks like she will be updating that in the morning."

"Still is a good write-up for the both of you," Alex said with a smile.

"That is why I trust her," Edward said, "This is, even in a draft form, well written, insightful, and, despite that she was part of the story, fair and balanced. Unlike some other stories about me or my friends in the past."

With that, Kara stifled a yawn and said, "Stop by Catco in the morning, if you'd like. I think we've overstayed."

"I'll do that," Edward replied smiling, "Time for this old dragon to get some shut-eye as well."

Kara did look at the girls and said, "Thank you for your help earlier. I appreciate that."

That got a rare full smile from Callisto while Yolstave beamed just as happily.

"You're welcome!" Cally said, before giving the Girl of Steel a hug. Raven raised an eyebrow and her trademark smirk before everyone said "Good-bye" to Kara and Alex.

The two women left and Edward said, "OK, girls, time to wind things down for the night."

And, with that, the family got ready for bed, unaware that there would be a challenge that would require the assistance of a dragon in a few hours.

 **[Unknown Location]**

There was another alien near National City who was itching to take down one of the last children of Krypton. Super strong and much taller than Supergirl and even Edward in his human form, Dragga was a force to be reckoned with. He had heard that Supergirl was there and he wanted to teach her a lesson: A lesson in pain.

"Soon," he growled in his language, "I shall have my revenge on the last daughter of Krypton. I cannot take revenge against her family, as they died when Krypton exploded. No matter. Tomorrow, Kara Zor-El dies."


	4. Fight Club

**[Chapter 3]**  
 **[Next Day]**

Edward woke up shortly before 9 AM and after enjoying breakfast with the family headed over to CatCo to see if Cat needed more information. Turned out that Cat was pleased with what she had and, for her, nicely declined. Kara merely shrugged her shoulders in the meanwhile.

"Sorry," she said.

Edward waved it off, "It's all right. I do not mind this at all. It gives me time to explore National City a bit."

"I wish I could come with you," Kara said, "Being Cat's assistant..."

"Means you can show your new friend around town, Keira," Cat said from her office, "Chop chop."

Kara raised her eyes and smiled, "Thank you, Ms. Grant!"

Cat did wave Edward into her office and said, "Don't keep Kara gone too long."

Edward smiled, "I will return with her soon. Thank you."

"Don't thank me just yet," Cat said, "She would have given me a bogus reason to catch up to you. If she wants to be a reporter, she's going to have to out there and work for it. She told me this morning what she wanted to do."

She pulled out Kara's resume and in big red letters, she had written "REPORTER" on it.

"Good call, Cat," Edward said, "Did you realize all this when she first wanted to work here?"

"Of course I did," Cat said, "I have a knack of knowing where prospective employees should be. Kara's no different. Now, get her out of here for a bit. She needs to be able to find and work sources."

"Outside of Supergirl and a dragon," Edward replied smirking, "We'll be back soon."

"When you return, lettuce wrap from Noonan's, please?" Cat requested, "With a salad drizzled with ranch dressing."

"I will assume that Kara knows what you prefer, so, if that's all right, I'll defer to her," Edward said, "You do not need repay me. The article you wrote is worth this old Dragon's money, and then some. This time, I respectfully insist."

Cat smirked, "Glad you liked it...Wait a moment! I haven't published it, yet."

"I know how well you write, Cat," Edward said thinking quickly, "So, I know that your article will be above even your own high standards."

Kara was ready to take off, in more ways than one, though. Edward noticed that and said, "I best leave for now, lest Kara blow her cover dragging me."

Cat actually laughed picturing Kara using her super strength to drag Edward out of the building.

"Have fun," Cat said.

Edward passed Cat's new assistant and noted that the girl looked depressed.

"Are you OK?" He asked.

"I'm fine," she said, "Just trying to figure how to make her happy."

"If you mean Ms. Grant," Edward said, "Time and patience. Learn what she likes when it comes to her lunch, for example. Learn to anticipate what she wants. If there's a deadline, for example, that you know is a weekly or monthly thing or even daily and know that she may want to review layouts, make sure to collect them ahead of time if possible."

It's not just that," the woman said, "She's downright mean."

"I know how you feel," Kara said, "It took me a long time to confront her without getting fired. We ended up getting some cocktails instead."

"So," she said, "Just grin and bear it? I'll probably end up resigning or fired anyway. You were the longest to last as her assistant."

"Let Kara mentor you," Edward recommended.

Before anyone could reply, Edward's link fired up.

[Sweetheart,] Raven said, [There's something odd going on. I'm getting a spike in, well, violent emotions from nearby. I wouldn't normally say anything, but, this reminds me of a bloodthirsty crowd at a UFC match.]

[And at this time of day? That, in itself is worth looking into,] Edward replied.

"Kara," Edward asked, "Are there any sanctioned MMA bouts today?"

She shook her head, "Not that I know of. Why?"

"Something's going on," he replied, "Raven is sensing a spike in, well, bloodlust nearby."

While they were talking, Alex had received a phone call and was requested to meet Detective Sawyer at an alley. As soon as Alex got there, she understood why. There was a deceased alien in the trunk of a car.

A phone call later resulted in Supergirl and Edward's arrival on the scene.

Edward looked at the body and saw the cause of death. It was pretty obvious as there was some sort of horn impaling the body.

"What in the world happened here?" He asked.

"Not sure," Sawyer asked, "Who are you?"

"Edward Barnes, of the Titans," he replied.

Her jaw dropped for a moment, "The dragon on their team, right?"

"Yes, Detective," Edward replied, "I'm not here to contaminate the scene, however, I am curious."

"Just be careful," Sawyer said.

Edward pulled his communicator out and phoned home to the AI.

"Ralph, activate the communicator's scanner," he requested, "We have a dead alien body here."

"All right," the AI said, "Scanner active."

He ran the device slowly over the victim several times before Ralph said, "Most interesting. I do not have this species in my databanks, nor the weapon used to kill him. The tusk has some properties that have an Earthlike quality to it, namely calcium and similar to a wild boar tusk. Without any other information on the skel's species, I am afraid that I am of little use."

"That's all right," Edward said, "Keep what you've got in memory regardless."

"No problem," Ralph replied.

"It was worth a shot," Edward said.

Alex and others snapped some pictures of their victim before everyone headed off to work on the investigation.

Alex, Kara and Edward headed towards the DEO and Edward got a surprise when he was introduced to Hank Henshaw.

[J'onn?] Edward asked telepathically [I know your vibe anywhere!]

[Small planet, huh?] he replied.

Edward smiled as he shook Hank's hand.

"You know one another?" Alex asked.

"I've known Hank here by another name, but, yes, we are good friends," Edward replied.

"Very true," Hank replied, lowering his voice to a whisper, "Before I became Hank, Edward already knew me as J'onn. I couldn't hide my vibes from him, even before he married Raven. He knew I meant no harm.

"Edward, I will need you to sign a few NDAs. Part of the protocol."

"Oh, that's fine," Edward replied. Hank took Edward to his office and pulled out a stack of papers. Edward's jaw dropped.

"Geez," he griped, "Am I signing away my wife and children's lives as well?"

Hank chuckled, "Nope. We don't ask for that, yet."

Edward borrowed a pen and after giving the forms a quick read to see what he was allowed to say and what he was not allowed to say, started signing. It took a while, though.

"OK, Hank," Edward said, "Is there anything I can do to help out?"

Hank shook his head, "Honestly, not right now. I've got a good team of agents here, but, if you want to observe, I have no problem with that."

"Would you mind if I had the Titan's AI download a copy of your alien database?" Edward asked, "I can encrypt it to my voiceprint and retinal scan. I do not need to know individual names, just basic information."

Hank replied, "How secure in your AI?"

"Extremely secure," Edward said, "Hackers quickly find out that to try to breach Ralph's firewalls means that the hackers need new machines as Ralph inserts a very destructive virus to fry the attacker's CPU, memory and their storage devices. It's hard to get data off a machine when the system catches fire. Most hackers aren't stupid enough to take the machine to a repair shop where compromising data might be on a hard drive. A SSD, though, can be silently wiped with a DoD level wipe."

Hank raised an eyebrow, "That's extreme, but, necessary."

"Too many people got in before, so, Cyborg finally had enough and programmed Ralph to destroy invading computers," Edward said, "Ralph will try to warn the hacker away before sending the kill program. Most hackers figured it out and withdrew. Some others tried to continue only to smell their computer starting to overheat."

Winn Schott asked, "May I give it a shot?"

Edward glared, "Absolutely not. Ralph would see your attempt as an attack and would send that code. When it's sent out, it automatically runs and once that happens, even if the machine is unplugged...soon as power is restored, it runs from the computer BIOS silently. The hacker would hear the BIOS and CPU chips exploding. It's a silent but deadly drive-by download."

"I see," Winn said, "It would do a number on the computers here?"

"The DEO would be shut down for weeks, if not longer," Edward explained, "Every machine that is online would go down, and, the virus would spread to the other computers hooked into the network."

"It sounds like a virus I developed a while ago," Winn said, "Nasty little beast."

Meanwhile, Alex was working some leads and piped up, "We may have something."

Edward raised an eyebrow as she explained, "One of my sources says there's an underground fight club and has an address."

Hank said, "Check it out, Agent Danvers. You, too, Edward, if you want."

Edward smirked and said, "Let's go."

"You may want another form," Hank suggested, "You're recognizable."

Edward's form shimmered for a moment before settling on a middle aged man in his late 40s with blond hair.

"Not bad," Alex commented.

"Thanks," he said, "Call me Linus for now. I used this name a few hundred years ago."

"Works for me," Alex said as she walked to the exit, Edward in tow.

They went to Alex's car and Edward got in. Kara had already left to go to her day job, though. Even though Cat was still her ultimate boss, she had reassigned Kara to a guy named Snapper Carr and he was a stickler for the rules.

It took Alex a while to get to the location Sawyer had provided and she looked at Edward and said, "Nice disguise."

Edward glared for a moment, but, decided not to say anything. Sawyer got them into the makeshift arena where the crowd looked like they were high rollers.

Maggie pointed out several people locally famous as the emcee was announcing the first fight. It promised to be a nasty fight, though. An alien named Dragga was fighting someone who was a lot smaller.

In fact, the fight lasted all of a minute as Dragga overpowered the opponent easily.

"Damn," Edward said, "This guy is quite strong and for his size, agile enough."

Edward was taken aback when the hostess asked if there was anyone who could go 5 minutes with Dragga. If they survived, there was a cash prize involved.

"None here would last a minute, let alone five," Alex said.

"No one mortal," Edward smirked, "I'm up to a challenge."

He headed towards the cage and nodded, "I will challenge this brute."

The hostess laughed in Edward's face, "You wouldn't last 30 seconds. But, it's your funeral. What's your name?"

"Linus van Pelt," Edward stated, "Yes, I know, my namesake is a comic strip character. Big whoop."

The hostess made a big introduction and announced that bets were now open.

Edward entered the cage and the door was closed.

The hostess yelled, "FIGHT!"

Dragga rushed Edward, intent on ending the fight with a single punch. Only problem is that Edward was ready and ducked out of the way. Edward countered with a punch that staggered Dragga for a moment, getting a reaction out of the crowd.

Edward followed up with several more hard punches to keep Dragga on the defensive.

However, Dragga landed a powerful hit of his own into Edward's rib cage, causing him to fly towards the far side of the ring, until Edward morphed into his battle form, causing the crowd to go silent.

Edward landed and rubbed his ribs, "Helluva punch you got there, laddie."

Dragga snarled something Edward couldn't translate in his head and as Dragga charged, Edward took to the air.

Or, tried to. Dragga reached up and grabbed a surprised Edward and slammed him into the cement, cracking it.

Edward shook his head to clear it in time to catch Dragga trying to stomp him into the cement.

Edward caught the foot and shoved upward, forcing Dragga to the cement as well.

Edward morphed again, retracting his wings and hardening his scales. His ridges started glowing white, indicating that he was about to fire his lightning. Dragga somehow realized that his opponent was about to do something and charged into Edward, disrupting his attack totally. The lightning struck the cage instead and arced through the metal.

The crowd saw Edward start to glow as his Blessing of Light activated. Edward decided to use that for defense only as Dragga had not really angered him.

That was until Kara arrived and Dragga turned to her instead and manhandled her. She was slammed into the concrete, creating a crater as well before he successfully stomped on her.

Seeing Kara being beaten up triggered his inner Darkness and his scales darkened as a result. Dragga looked at the transformation and a hint of fear entered his eyes as Edward snarled, "That was your last mistake."

His spine glowed purple and his hands started glowing purple as well. He fired off a volley of starbolts that forced Dragga back into the cage.

"Azarath metrion ZINTHOS!" He roared and the cage was covered in black before it was wrapped tightly around Dragga. Rendering him motionless before the lightning spewed forth again, this time, with enough power to leave Dragga with sear marks and howling in pain.

Edward wasn't done and moved in for the kill before he heard in his head, [Sweetheart, STOP! That's enough. He's defeated.]

[Dad! Please calm down,] Callisto said. She had recently been able to access the link as well, [This violence will solve nothing. Supergirl is going to be fine.]

Edward's scales returned to bronze as his anger cooled off and he stood down.

He glared at Dragga and said, "Be glad my wife and daughter intervened. Get. Off. This. Planet!

"And...to whoever runs this show or supports it...This is the last one. I catch you starting this in any other location anywhere on this world, I will shut it down. Fund this and I will have your accounts...ALL of them frozen. They will be as frozen as the planet Neptune."

"You cannot shut this down!" The emcee objected, "These aliens have no rights..."

"They have rights in my eyes!" Edward roared, "From here on out, as long as they are law abiding, they are under my protection. Do not cross me on this one." His eyes were still glowing red and he gave the woman a withering glare.

"I have friends," she objected, "Who will not hesitate to stop you."

Edward scoffed, "It's their financial ruin, then. Tell them what I just said and that Edward Barnes keeps his promises They try anything and my wrath shall rain on them. They will wish Godzilla had attacked instead."

He turned to Kara who was just starting to move, "Anyone get the number of that train?"

"Relax, Supergirl," Edward said gently, "I'll get you over to where you can recover."

Alex and Maggie came into the ring as well, seeing that Edward would not attack them. In fact, he waved them over.

"Get her to the DEO," he whispered to Alex, "Maggie, please get me names and addresses of all those who were here. If you run into resistance, call me." He gave Maggie his number.

"What can you do?" Maggie asked.

"Best you do not know, Detective," Edward said, "Let's just say that I know a few methods to get information that is technically outside the law."

Maggie said, "You're probably right. Not that a jail cell would hold you, though. If that display was any indication of your true power...damn."

"Detective," Edward said, "That was child's play to me. Even if I had to give Dragga a taste of my true power, others have had it in full measure."

Edward realized that the crowd had high-tailed out after hearing Edward's warning.

"Just how powerful are you?" Alex asked.

"Seeing how Supergirl is still seeing stars should tell you," Edward said smirking, "Dragga managed several powerful shots that as you saw staggered me. I will admit that he's a very capable fighter."

Speaking of Supergirl, she was oddly enough, still woozy from those hits and Edward made a judgment call.

"Cover your eyes, ladies," he said, "I do not like how Supergirl is looking and without solar radiation, she's not going to heal as fast."

He reactivated his Blessing of Light and ramped it up to as high as he dared without hurting Alex and Maggie.

With the added light, Supergirl was able to recover faster and within a few minutes, she was levitating and smiling.

"Thanks!" She said cheerfully, "You can turn that off, if you'd like."

Edward's glow faded. He looked at her and said, "You all right?"

"Nothing that some additional sunlight won't cure," she said and looked at Dragga who was trying to escape.

Edward lit up his ridges and said, "Do not even try. I won't hesitate to zap you with a much stronger blast. You'd wake up in a cell at the DEO."

Dragga struggled more and Edward carried out his threat as a powerful lightning blast hit Dragga, eliciting a roar of pain that lasted several long moments before Edward stopped the attack.

Dragga was dragged out by Edward as the brute was out cold. As soon as they exited, the hostess realized that her champion was about to be taken away and pulled out a semi-automatic machine gun.

"You're not taking Dragga away from me!" She yelled.

She didn't get a chance to fire as Supergirl hit the gun with her heat vision, forcing her to drop the weapon.

Edward's eyes glowed red, "You foolish bitch! I should allow my Darkness to deal with you." He started towards her and smirked.

Before the woman could react, Edward blew smoke into her face, leaving her coughing and gasping for fresh air.

Maggie laughed and said, "Good one." She puts the cuffs on the hostess and said, "You're under arrest for possession of an illegal weapon and attempted murder."

"You can't arrest me!" The woman yelled, "I have friends in high places."

"So do I," Edward said, "And, probably in a much higher pay grade. So, I strongly suggest that you listen closely: You have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney and to have an attorney present during questioning. If you so desire and cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you at no cost. You have the right to end questioning at any time Do you understand these rights?"

She nodded, "Yes."

Edward asked, "Do you wish to give up the right to remain silent? I strongly recommend that you say 'No.'"

"Of course, I refuse to give up that right!" She snarled.

"She's all your, Detective," Edward said, "If you get any flak from her 'Friends in Low Places', I want you to contact me or Agent Danvers."

Little did anyone know: Someone had seen the bust and called the emcee's "friends" and before Maggie could even get her to the car, the smartphone rang.

"Sawyer," Maggie said. The voice on the other end merely said, "You are ordered to release the suspect."

"Captain?" Maggie said.

"You heard me, Detective! That woman is not to be arrested," her captain said, "This comes from 1 PP."

The captain didn't realize that both Kara and Edward could hear the entire conversation.

Edward motioned for the phone. Maggie silently handed the phone over.

"Captain," he said, "This is Edward Barnes of the Titans. The suspect shall remain in custody, or do I call the Attorney General of the United States as well as the Attorney General of this state and the governor? Trust me...If I make those calls, I will initiate an investigation by the Department of Justice, the FBI and the State Police for public corruption."

"You're out of your jurisdiction!" The captain protested.

"Check the law, Captain," Edward said, "and not state law...Federal law. I most certainly have jurisdiction when I see federal offenses committed. I usually do not have to claim this, but, seeing how you obviously do not wish to stand down, I am invoking federal jurisdiction and placing this woman into federal custody."

"You'd protect aliens who have no rights?" The captain demanded to know.

"Captain," Edward said coldly, "Not only are they under my protection as long as they obey the laws of this country as well as the state in which they live in, they are also under protection of the Titans. Captain, quite while you're behind. 2000 or so years ago, I took down slave traders without any remorse. If you are protecting people who are treating alien life forms as property; that makes you a conspirator, even if you are just following orders.

"I will tell you the same thing I just told Roulette: Push me on this and I will start to have assets frozen so cold that Neptune would be warmer. You let your superiors know that. Also, remember your oath of office, Captain, please. I do not want to have to arrest any officers for obstruction of justice." He didn't bother listening to the captain stammering and hung up.

He handed the phone to Maggie and said, "Let the jail warden know that there is a federal detainer on Roulette, authorized by Edward Barnes under 18 USC Section 68. I really do not invoke that much, but, to keep this POS behind bars, looks like I'm going to have to."

Supergirl nodded, "Sounds like a plan to me. Too bad we can't lock Roulette up at the DEO."

"We probably could," Alex realized, "I'd have to clear it with Hank, though."

"Hold that thought," Edward said.

[J'onn? What's the protocol for holding a human prisoner? We just broke up an alien fight club and Supergirl said we couldn't lock her up there. In case you're wondering, the local PD got orders to release her. I'm holding this person on a federal detainer as a result,] Edward asked telepathically.

[Considering we had Max Lord and Livewire for a while,] Hank replied, [Take your prisoner to the DEO facility in the desert. Kara or Alex can escort you.]

"It's taken care of," Edward said aloud, "Detective, I'm requesting that you release the prisoner into my custody."

"Probably will solve a lot of problems," Maggie replied, "My captain's going to be livid as is."

"That's his problem," Edward said, "Not yours."

Maggie smiled, "True. The prisoner is in your custody."

With that, Edward picked up Dragga and Kara picked up the still complaining Roulette, who was certain to be released regardless.

"Trade me, please," Edward requested, "Dragga's not going to give you any trouble, Roulette needs to realize something."

Kara shrugged and traded prisoners.

"Alex, Hop on," Edward said and lowered a wing. Alex got on and after getting Edward's standard safety instructions, teleported to above the building and waited for Kara to join him.

"After you, Supergirl," Edward said, "I've not been to where you and Alex work in the desert."

Supergirl nodded as she got the hint.

She took off at a leisurely pace, with Edward following.

"Now, Roulette," Edward said as they flew, "If you're wondering how I knew your alias, I'm a telepath and an empath. Meaning, I can read your mind and your feelings. I already scanned your true identity and other vital information. By the end of the day, your finances will not only be frozen, but, the IRS and Treasury Departments will be most curious as to your income, as well as your clients."

"You can't do that!" She objected.

"All I am doing is giving federal agencies a tipoff, nothing more," Edward said, "What they choose to do with that information, is up to them. But, lady, I can and am about to freeze your assets regardless, and, I think a federal court will uphold that."

"Not if I call my attorneys!" Roulette said with a smirk.

"Where you're going, you don't get a phone call," Alex said, "As far as the world knows, you disappeared without a trace. You'll be allowed to leave for court dates, and, if you are convicted, then, you'll be transferred to the Federal Pen."

"And, Roulette?" Edward said, "When that happens, I will make sure that you are assigned to the SuperMax facility. I'll throw you into a hole, and throw away the hole."

"Good luck with that," Roulette snarled.

"Planning on witness intimidation?" Edward said as they flew, "You can't intimidate a dragon, dearie. And, guess what? There will be plenty of people turning states against you in exchange for far more lenient treatment. If I'm not intimidated by a dragon millions of years older than I am, you are no threat to me."

"I'll escape somehow!" Roulette said.

"Good luck with that," Alex said, "It's a long walk to civilization and, you'd likely not get too far."

"Roulette," Edward said, tiring of the woman, "You have a right to remain silent...I strongly suggest that you use it!"

The sudden icy tone in Edward's voice was finally enough to shut her up for a while.

They flew for about 30 more minutes and finally Supergirl headed towards several buildings in the middle of nowhere and landed.

After Edward landed, he said, "I'll wait out here. No sense in you exposing me to everything that you'd prefer that I not see."

"It's OK," Alex said, "Hank sent me a text and said that you're allowed to see things here."

Edward morphed back to human and shrugged his shoulders.

"Lead the way, Alex," Edward said as he escorted Roulette into the building.

It did not take long to get the prisoners secured, and, Alex frisked Roulette to make sure that she couldn't call for any illegal assistance. And, after what Edward witnessed, he was more than happy to be rid of the woman.

As they left, Edward did ask, "Out of curiosity, how are prisoners' basic needs handled?"

"Classified," Alex replied. Edward nodded, "That's OK. Even if I have clearance, I'm not so curious as to invoke it."

"Edward," Alex said, "This entire agency is highly classified, and, it's off the books. Only a very few are allowed to know that the DEO exists. Hank trusts you, so, that's good enough for me."

With the prisoners secured, though, it was time to leave for the day. Kara needed to get back to her day job, and Alex needed to get back to her home base in the city.

So, Kara took off under her own power and Edward gave Alex a lift back to the city.


	5. Project CADMUS and rescuing Jeremiah

**Chapter 4**  
 **[A month later]  
[Heading for Mt. Fuji]**

After the visit with Kara a month before, Edward and family had resumed their tour. This time going to Tokyo, Japan to see the sights.

The girls loved touring the city and the food there. Edward would spend his time translating for Raven, but, the girls were already fluent in Japanese, so, there was little problem there.

Toho Studios even called Edward, wanting to know if he could stand-in for one of their kaijus in the latest Godzilla film. Edward agreed as long as he did not have to be a three headed dragon. He also asked that his kids be extras as they were big fans of Godzilla. The studio agreed, so, a few days later, the family was taking part of an actual kaiju film.

Edward needed to see what they wanted him to form and he was impressed.

"It's a Kaiju that they used 20 years ago, looks like," Edward said to the girls, "This should be fun."

The kaiju was based on Destroyah and when Edward morphed into it and gave a test roar, the director and special effects folks were happy.

"Can you fly in this form?" The director asked. Edward responded by adding wings to the design and flying off for a moment before returning.

After morphing back, "In Destroyah's 'natural form', no, I cannot fly. Hence the wings." The special effects director replied, "That's fine. Actually, I can see a use for that alternate form already. Can you use your weapons?"

"Doubtful," Edward said, "If you needed my dragon form, that would be different."

In the end, it didn't matter if Edward could use his weapons or not. He had fun trampling on a scaled down Osaka before Godzilla showed up to fight. Edward, remembering that Godzilla never won in the first round was able to beat the suit actor convincingly yet not hurting the guy.

Also, he was allowed to play a bit role in his human form before the studio wanted to focus on the big fight where Edward would "fall" to the King of the Monsters. That, Edward relished as he acted like he was hit by Godzilla's atomic breath and the set was "blown up" by the miniature fireworks.

It took about three weeks of intensive filming, yet Edward was hopeful that the film would be successful.

Cally and Yolstav were pleased to take part in the movie as well...in fact, the writers gave the girls some dialog, meaning that they were also paid for their performance. Edward discussed it with them and that money was set aside in the girls' saving accounts back home.

A few days after filming ended, the family was driving a rented car to Mt. Fuji when Edward's smart phone went off.

He opened it to see "Alex Danvers" in the caller ID. He hit the "answer" button and said, "Hi, Alex! What's up?"

"Kara's missing," was the answer. That got Edward's attention in a hurry.

"How can she be missing?" Edward asked, "And, I assume that you need some help?"

"Yes, I do need the help, and, as for the how?", Alex said, "Beats me. She was looking into where Mon-El might have gone and we haven't heard from her. Her phone goes straight to voice mail."

"How long has she been MIA?" Was Edward's next question.

"A few hours," Alex replied, "Winn tried to trace Kara's phone and it was turned off before we could get much information."

"I'm in Japan, but, I can be in National City shortly," Edward said, "I'll meet you at the DEO HQ. I have some resources that the DEO doesn't and can use those to help out. Have Winn stand by to access the Titan's AI. I'll tell Ralph that it's OK."

"Thank you!" Alex said gratefully and hung up.

Edward pulled over and said, "Honey, you and the girls can continue on to Fuji if you'd like. Hopefully, this is something that can be cleared up pretty quickly."

"You sure?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Edward said, "Listen, there's a vehicle return near Fuji and if need be, you can leave the rental there and come over via a tear. I'll contact you via the link regardless of what happens."

"OK," Raven said, "Good luck!"

Edward got out and Raven took over the driver's seat. He gave her a kiss and said, "Have fun! I'll be back soon."

Raven drove away as Edward opened a Tear and stepped through.

 **[DEO – National City]**

Edward entered the new HQ for the DEO and was greeted by Winn, J'onn and Alex.

"Welcome back to the DEO," J'onn said.

"It's great to be back," Edward said, "Any word from Supergirl?"

"Nothing yet," Alex said, "Winn still cannot pinpoint her location."

Edward nodded and pulled out his communicator, "Edward calling Ralph."

"Ralph here," was the reply from the Titan AI.

"You're going to get a remote login from a new IP address," Edward said, "The person accessing you is a friend of Supergirl's and I will vouch for him as well. His name's Winn...Two Ns. Supergirl's gone missing and we need to be able to find her.

"Winn will be giving you the information needed."

"I do have Supergirl's smart phone, remember?" Ralph said, "Pinging it now."

"It won't help," Winn said, "Her phone's turned off."

"I have a few other ways to find someone," Ralph replied, "While her phone is, indeed, turned off her GPS tracker is still active."

"It is?!" Winn said, sitting down at his screen and keyboard.

"That's affirmative," Ralph replied. "I'm sending you the coordinates now."

A series of numbers appeared on the communicator's screen and Edward showed them to Winn.

Those numbers were punched into the computer there and an area appeared that was outside National City.

"Satellite view?" J'onn asked, and, Winn pulled it up.

"Good enough for me," Edward said, "I'll go on ahead while you guys get a strike team together. I would suggest that you wait for my signal."

"You heard him," J'onn said, "Scramble the team."

"When you guys are ready," Edward recommended, "get hold of me on my phone. I will open a portal to allow you to merely step through and take whoever is holding Supergirl hostage. Is there anyone else I need to be looking for?"

"Mon-El is also missing," Alex said.

"OK," Edward replied, "He might be with Supergirl, I assume. I'll find them."

"Be careful," J'onn said, "Cadmus could be extremely dangerous."

"Not as dangerous as I can be, Hank," Edward said for the benefit of those not in the loop.

[I know how dangerous you can be when you allow your anger free reign. As a friend, control it,] J'onn adminished gently, [These guys haven't gone after dragons, yet. Let's not give them a reason to.]

Edward raised an eyebrow before nodding in agreement.

Edward stepped out of the building and morphing into his battle form, took to the skies before opening a tear and flying through it.

He emerged a mile outside where Kara's GPS tracker was at and was able to find an entrance into the facility. He had to assume that there was some sort of camera system monitoring the grounds, though.

So, he morphed into a small bird and flew into the facility and flew along the ceiling to evade the cameras which were visible.

It took a while, but, Edward came across a room with Kara and Mon-El there. He hadn't met the Daxamite as yet, but, he knew that they came from a sister planet in the former Krypton system.

He did recognize the metal they were imprisoned in.

 _Nth metal from Thanagar. Kara won't be able to damage it. Hell, it's as tough as Tamaranian steel. Wait a tick...something's wrong!_

Edward saw that Mon-El was injured in the leg and Kara looked drained.

Edward morphed to his mini-dragon form after locating the cameras and zapped them with his lightning, shorting them out.

Kara looked up and saw what was happened and smiled as Edward landed.

"Stand back," he said. He grabbed the cage and his eyes glowed white. The bars resisted the incredible force for a few seconds before they started to slowly give way. Finally, the metal, with a screech ripped away and the door flew across the room.

Just in time as the guards came running to see the impossible.

Edward's wings flared out as the bullets started flying.

The guards didn't stand a chance as Edward returned fire with his lightning breath. He didn't kill them, but, they would wake up wishing that they had been killed.

He then iced over the doorway to prevent anyone else from intervening.

"Help Mon-El," Kara said, "He's been shot."

"All right," Edward said and moved to the other door and started to tear that one off as well. It took a few moments before a screech of tearing metal was heard and Edward went in and looked at the wound.

"What the heck?" Edward said, "This looks like advanced lead poisoning."

"It's their weakness," another voice said.

Edward turned to the threat only to hear Kara shout, "Jeremiah!"

Edward stood down, seeing how Kara ran over and gave the man a hug.

He ran over and past Edward and said, "We have to get you guys out of here, but, unless this lead is removed, Mon-El will die."

Jeremiah quickly removed the bullet and said, "This way! The other guards will be here soon."

Edward picked up the wounded man and said, "I have a faster way to get us all out of here."

Edward opened another Tear and said, "This will drop us off at the DEO. Just step through."

Then, he gave Kara a hug and told her, "I have to stay here, but, Kara, I am so proud of you and who you have grown to be."

"I love you," she said, tears glistening.

"Come on, Kara," Edward said gently, "We don't have much time. My barricade won't last long."

Then, they stepped through.

A moment later, they were back at the DEO.

"I need a medic over here!" Edward said loudly. That got a bunch of folks moving to collect Mon-El.

"You coming, Supergirl?" Edward said.

"I can't," she said sadly, "They forced me to solar flare. My powers are drained for now."

Alex and her team arrived and Edward said, "You folks go on ahead, I need to make sure that Supergirl and Mon-El are taken care of. Alex, I need to mention something to you real quick."

Alex nodded, giving her assent to the strike team.

"There's one person there that you know, Alex," Edward said.

"Who?"

"Does the name Jeremiah …" Edward started to ask, only to see Alex's eyes widen.

"My dad's there?" She asked.

"Yes," Edward said, "He helped us escape. You best get a move on."

Alex raced through the Tear and Edward closed it as a precaution.

Edward followed Supergirl into the sickbay and after he was assured that Mon-El was resting comfortable had Kara also lay down.

"Everyone that doesn't have Class 10 welder goggles need to leave," Edward said, "That pretty much means everyone human."

The medics and other folks left and a moment after they did, Edward said, "Kara, cover your eyes as well. I'm jump starting your powers."

Edward covered Mon-El's eyes and activated his blessing of light to maximum power. It didn't take long for both to start to recover. In fact, Kara was recharged faster due to the intense light Edward was putting out. Mon-El was also healing, but, taking longer.

"My powers are back," Kara said, "You should go help that strike team."

"Oh?" Edward said before his smartphone chirped.

"From: Alex Danvers

911!"

Edward opened a tear and jumped through it, Kara following under her own power.

It was a good thing Edward was still in his battle form with the scales deployed as he was hit with more rounds.

"Idiots!" Edward snarled before using his powers to rip the weapons out of the enemy hands and shipping them to the Trash Hole.

Several tried to run only to hear the roar of an annoyed Edward, "FREEZE!" Followed by an icy burst of air.

However, one decided that he was able to fight back. Edward was surprised to see what he thought was J'onn there. But, he also was unable to get any empathic read off him.

He flew towards Edward, hoping to land an initial blow. Edward ducked down and grabbed Hank Henshaw by the ankle and slammed him into the floor.

"I know you are not the real Hank Henshaw," Edward snarled, "I can't get any empathic vibes off you."

"That's because I'm Cyborg Superman!" The imposter said, "And, I will kill you."

Edward scoffed, "I'm immortal, asshole."

The robot got up and threw a punch, which Edward caught in one hand, then caught the second fist. He smirked as the cyborg tried to get his hands free.

"I spar on a regular basis against Cyborg," Edward said to Supergirl, "This cyborg is not even close in strength, especially since I am unwilling to let him move me."

Cyborg Superman tried to head-butt Edward only to jar its own circuits as Edward shrugged off the attack. He lifted the cyborg off its feet and activating his blessing of Earth became as crystal clear as his friend Kole, only he could move.

He spun around and slammed the cyborg into the cement wall, cracking it.

As Edward was fighting the cyborg, Kara was dealing with the guards that were still coming easily.

Cyborg Superman still had a lot of fight in him and giving Edward a major workout. That was until Edward told his Darkness, " **I'm letting you out to have some fun. Do not harm the good guys here.** "

Edward scales darkened to black and he growled, "Mah turn."

Cyborg Superman saw the change and his remaining humanity realized that maybe he had gone too far.

Dark Edward slammed the cyborg into the floor again and proceeded to step on it. Cyborg Superman fought the attempt but Edward was just too strong and you could hear the whine of stressed metal trying to resist the force until finally the Cyborg yelled, "I surrender!"

"No quarter," Edward's darkness said, "You hurt mah friends. Ah get to whoop you good for that."

Kara said, "Edward, he gives up! Don't kill him."

Dark Edward looked at Kara and slowly nodded, "All right." He planted his fast into the cement next to the cyborg's head and growled, "Next time, this will be your metal skull. Turn yourself off."

The cybernetic eye went dark and the human eye closed.

Edward's scales returned to their normal bronze color and smirked.

"I figured Mr Dark and Scary would work here. It's all right, Kara, my darkness knows where the line is," he explained, "Looks like our friend here needs restrained, somehow."

 **Stay available,** Edward told his Darkness, **I** **may need your assistance.**

 _ **What's in it for me?**_

 **You should know. You get to have a chance to let loose a bit. I know it's not what you'd like to do, but, there's nothing large enough to let you tear apart to satisfy your needs. Next spar back in the other universe, I'll see if Vicky's available and you two can have some fun. I'll even stay out of it, save for the usual looking through the eyes.**

 _ **Fine.**_

He looked at the cage and nodded, "This will work fine. This stuff isn't easily bendable."

"I couldn't even get it to budge," Kara noted.

"Nth metal," Edward explained, "It's one of the toughest metals in the universe. Let's just say that I had to put a lot more strength to even get this to bend, let alone break. The metal comes from Thanigar, the home world of our Hawkgirl. Her mace is made out of that stuff."

Edward's body started to glow again, this time, it looked like his body was starting to ignite before his spine started to glow a bright red color.

A tight beam of red light was released in a fine stream on the Nth metal and it started to glow white before pieces were removed. Edward then secured the prisoner with it.

"STOP!" A woman's voice yelled out.

A woman, in her early 40s marched into the room and said, "Who are you and what the HELL do you think you're doing?!"

Edward glared at the woman and snarled, "Seriously, how many dragons are there on this world where if you come across the oldest one...taking down a cyborg none the less and you not know of said Dragon?

"Fine. I am Edward Barnes of the Titans and Heir to Fire. And who might you be?"

"This is Lillian Luthor," Kara said, "The woman who ordered my kidnapping."

Lillian Luthor snarled, "Shut up, alien. You have no right..."

Edward roared angrily, forcing everyone in the room to cover their ears.

He picked Lillian up and growled, "Do not EVER presume that in my presence again. I will tell you, here and now, as far as I am concerned...Supergirl, Mon-El, and Superman along with any other law abiding alien from whatever country or planet have the same rights as a citizen of this country. Don't ever tell Supergirl to shut up or that she has no rights, unless you want your jaw broken.

"I have heard your manifestos, seeing how they violate the Communications Act of 1934, as amended and God know how many FCC regulations enacted. I've taken down scum like you in the past. I have KILLED slave traders in ancient Greece. Lady, you're damned lucky I am playing by the Titans no kill rule here."

The security guards made a move to rescue their boss, only to be thrown against the wall by Edward's tail and Supergirl intercepting others.

Alex held up her FBI credentials and yelled, "FBI, you're all under arrest! Drop your weapons."

"Don't do it!" Lillian yelled, before a punch from Edward knocked her out.

"Drop. Your. WEAPONS!" Edward snarled.

Some guards were smart and complied. Others raised their weapons, only to drop them due to their hands burning from Kara's heat vision.

"Next asshat who makes a dumb move," Edward snarled, "Gets gets to see my dark side, up close and very personal."

That convinced the rest of them to give up.

"Alex, would you take this piece of slime and put her in the same hole Roulette is in?" Edward asked, delivering Lillian into federal custody.

"Same as before?" Alex asked.

Edward nodded as he calmed down, "Yes. If someone tries to claim jurisdiction to release Lillian, let them know that I have no problem exercising supervening jurisdiction as I did with Roulette. They got a problem with that, give them my contact information and I will be happy to relieve them of duty...Permanently."

"What charges?" Alex asked.

"Kidnapping of Supergirl and Mon-El," Edward said, "I know the President signed the Alien Rights Act despite interference. Violation of the Communication Act of 1936. Unauthorized usage of the public airwaves. Resisting arrest. Interfering with a federal officer in the performance of their duty. Attempted assassination of the President of the United States. Conspiracy to commit assassination of federal officials."

"You know, you could add assaulting a dragon," Alex said.

Edward waived it off, "I could, but, the charges I just laid out will, if she is convicted, put her behind bars for the rest of her life.

"Her henchmen...Conspiracy to commit all the crimes I listed."

"And the cyborg here?" Kara asked.

"I'll take it back to Titan Tower," Edward said, "Cyborg, Ralph and I will extract his memory before reprogramming Hank's cyborg half."

Edward continued, "Hold on. Something else is wrong."

"What?" Alex asked.

"Great distress," Edward replied, his eyes glowing white. It took a moment to hone in on the vibes.

"This way," Edward said, morphing to his human form and taking off through the hallways of the compound.

"Alex," he continued, "The vibes I am getting are similar to yours. The only reason for that is a family/blood bond. It's hard to explain."

The three heroes kept running. Or in Kara's case, flying.

"Supergirl," Alex asked, "Would you scan ahead?"

"I already am," she replied, "I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary."

Edward veered left, down another hallway and his Blessing of Life kicked in.

"Geez," Kara said, "You've used almost all of these Blessings. Doesn't it drain you?"

"Only when I overdo it," Edward replied, "In small bursts, I recover faster."

Kara scanned ahead with her X-Ray vision and after a few minutes said, "There's a lead lined room ahead."

Edward nodded, "What I am picking up seems to be from this room, then. I am also picking up other emotions, like anger, now."

Edward couldn't teleport normally, but, over the years, he had learned a few new tricks.

First thing he did was try to locate a way in by going under the door. The space was too small, even for him to try a small insect. The door was locked by an electronic keypad that looked to also have a biometric scanner.

Next, he merely chanted his wife's mantra and phased through the door.

Whoever was there was so focused on beating Jeremiah that they didn't know that there was an unwelcome visitor.

Edward smirked and quietly opened the door from the inside, figuring that the captors would want a quick egress.

However, Edward made a tactical error as the lights in the room changed and the captors turned to see Edward there.

"Well," one said, "Who do we have here?"

"None of your business," Edward snarled, morphing to his battle form.

"You're so dead," the guy said and pulled out a taser.

Edward smirked and said, "Give it your best shot."

The guy fired the taser, only to see the contacts bounce off Edward's scales.

"Gotta love diamond hard scales," Edward said, "Normally, it would be my turn..." He turned around with a flying kick that sent the door flying itself.

"But," Edward said, "I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine...Supergirl."

That's all the cue Kara needed before she flew in, took one look at her adopted dad and a look of anger crossed her features.

A series of heat vision blasts erupted from her eyes and that resulted in Jeremiah's kidnappers dropping weapons that went from room temperature to searing hot.

"I got this," Alex said coming in as well. Edward withdrew to let a family reunite.

Except that the captors had one more trick.

"Take one more step, the man dies," the leader said.

Edward scoffed, "Watch this, then."

He had already noticed wires going from the chair to a different room. He chanted the mantra again and those wires were enshrouded with a black aura and ripped away from the chair. Then, the chair itself was lifted and moved. Good thing he did, he saw metal contacts as well.

"Kind of hard to fry someone if there's no wires or other ways to make contact," Edward said, "Ladies, do your duty."

"With pleasure," Alex said, pulling out her service weapon.

"Boys," Edward said, "You know the drill. Drop your weapons, get on your knees, no one else needs to get their ass handed to them by Supergirl. And, judging by the barely restrained anger I am sensing from her, all she needs is an excuse. Do not give her one. I will not restrain her if that happens."

They played it smart and did as Edward requested.

Edward walked over and snapped the cuffs holding Jeremiah.

"Outside of these bruises, you OK?" Edward asked him.

"Just sore all over," he replied, "Thank you."

"Just returning the favor from earlier, Dr. Danvers," Edward said, "Your reputation precedes you, sir."

Edward's hands started glowing green and he said, "I can take care of these injuries for you."

"Wait," Alex said, "We need the medical evidence. Sorry, dad."

"It's all right, sweetheart," he said, "She's right. I need to be looked at by a hospital first."

The glow faded from Edward's hands, "True."

By then, Kara had secured the others.

A klaxon sounded along with flashing red lights.

"ALERT! Self-Destruct Sequence has been activated. Three minutes until this structure is destroyed," an automated voice announced.

"Crap!" Alex said, "We gotta get out of here!"

"You guys go ahead," Edward said, pulling his communicator.

"Edward to Ralph, Priority one emergency," he said, "The building I am located in has a self-destruct function that has been activated. It needs to be terminated."

"Acknowleged," the Titan AI said, "I suggest that you evacuate, just in case, Edward."

"I plan on it," Edward replied as he also started hightailing it.

"Warning! Two minutes, thirty seconds until auto-destruct is activated," the other computer announced.

"Edward," Ralph said, "There is a firewall blocking access. It's highly encrypted and will take at least 30 minutes to break through."

"Damn," Edward said, "That's 28 minutes too long. But, keep trying."

"There is one option," Ralph said, "A strong EMP will overload the local power grid and any backup generators. However, it will also destroy any evidence in the remote computer."

Edward discovered that the other employees of Cadmus were in a controlled panic, though, and having a difficult time getting out.

He opened a tear to allow people to leave.

"Go through the Tear of Oblivion!" He shouted, "I assure you that it is safe and I mean you no harm. This will take you to a safe distance away!"

The Cadmus employees that heard the shout took the risk and ran through the tear. Some were carting what Edward knew to be evidence.

"One minute until auto-destruct!" The PA system announced.

"Any luck?" Edward asked Ralph.

"Negative," Ralph said, "There's nothing I can do. I'm sorry."

"It's all right," Edward replied.

"I am showing no life signs in the building except for you," Ralph said, "I have already alerted the local emergency services of the impending explosion."

"30 seconds until detonation," the PA system said, "This is the final alert. Farewell."

Edward stepped through the tear as well and it collapsed a moment later.

"OK, folks," Edward said, "Those I saw with files, those are evidence, so, I need you to step away from the carts. You need to stay put until the feds and local police get here. Cooperate and I will do my best to keep you from any serious felony charges."

The sky lit up just then as the Cadmus building imploded followed 30 seconds later by a loud explosion.

"Holy crap!" Edward exclaimed as the shock wave hit. Kara had to cover her ears and even that didn't deaden the loudness to her.

"Talk about overkill!" Alex said.

"Guess the digital evidence is vaporized," Edward said sadly.

"Not necessarily," Ralph piped up, "Before the main servers were destroyed, I managed to get in but, was not able to halt the countdown. I detected several pathways to a remote location. They were very active and some packets I scanned while encrypted may be what you seek, Edward. I am tracing those virtual pathways now and have piggybacked some code of my own. I'm sending this information to a Winn Shott, Jr. as well."

"Good work!" Edward said.

Kara looked at the group, her ears ringing like Big Ben.

"What?" She asked.

That raised Edward's eyebrows.

"You OK?" He asked and got a blank stare.

"Wonderful," Edward muttered, "That bang was enough to deafen her hearing for a bit. She should recover shortly, though."

10 minutes later, Ralph called back.

"It's as I suspected," he said, "The destroyed server was programmed to send its data to several remote backups. I've partially decrypted some of the information. Whoever did the encryption is quite good as there seem to be several layers. It will take me and Alice several days to fully decrypt."

"Damn," Edward replied, "I hope you have copies made."

"I do," Ralph replied smugly, "I need to be careful. Some of these files I have already removed some nasty viruses from. Viruses that will not only shred the files, but, may damage a computer's hardware. I've sandboxed those files as a precaution. They are triggered by brute force decryption efforts."

"Anything usable in court?" Edward asked next."

"Not yet," Ralph replied, "From what I can determine, this is routine stuff. Cyborg agrees with that. As does Nightwing."

Edward frowned, "There's gotta be something of use."

"Why would Cadmus send this data to a remote location, though?" Alex pondered, "It would have been harder to build a case against Lillian Luthor if this evidence was destroyed."

"Your guess is as good as mine, Agent Danvers," Ralph replied.

Both her and Kara's jaws dropped hearing that.

"I told Ralph about you," Edward explained, "He knows you work for the FBI, Alex."

"Just how smart is this AI?" Alex asked.

"Extremely smart," Edward replied, "Over the last 15 years or so, Ralph has grown from a fledgling AI to full sentience. I trust Ralph as much as I do my brothers-in-arms and my family."

"What was Ralph based on, then?" Kara asked.

"He was based on the Knight Industries 2000," Edward replied, "KITT was a heavily modified 1982 Trans-Am into truly a supercar. I signed some NDAs with the Knight Foundation and, they are still technically in force, even though KITT is no longer functional."

"What happened?" Alex asked.

"The driver, Michael Knight, was killed during a mission," Ralph responded, "KITT was heartbroken and one night, he told Bonnie – his mechanic – good-bye and shut down for good. There was nothing Bonnie could do. KITT had wiped himself... there was nothing to recover. Even KITT's CPU was wiped clean in his suicide protocol. It was removed from the car and laid to rest next to Michael. Edward also took the death's pretty hard as he was a friend. When Edward joined the Titans and after discussing it with the team, he contacted Knight Industries. He had me built and as they had copies of KITT's original programming, that was installed.

"Before you ask, I don't have KITT's memories. The copies were retained by Bonnie and she refused to install those, knowing that there was a chance the suicide protocol would trigger."

"I am so sorry," Alex stated and gave Edward a hug.

"I guess that explains the Boston accent?" Kara figured.

"I do have KITT's original voice," Ralph replied smugly.

"And KITT's snark," Edward said, "Thanks for the condolences, Alex."

Alex's phone rang and she answered it.

"Danvers," she said. She listened carefully and frowned, "He's right here, actually."

She said, "It's Maggie Sawyer. She needs to talk to you."

She handed over her phone.

"This is Edward Barnes," He said.

"Edward," Maggie said, "I'm afraid I got some bad news. Roulette was able to get bail and was released from custody an hour ago."

Edward's eyes started glowing red.

"Who in the HELL authorized that?!' He snarled, "And, where did she disappear to?"

"I'm still getting that information," Maggie replied, "Looks like there is a federal judge protecting her. In fact, the judge said that she didn't give a damn who thinks Roulette should stay behind bars and set a bail over the federal prosecutor's objections for a mere $50,000. She posted $5,000 and was out within an hour."

Edward was furious and said, "I hope that there was an appeal filed. If not, I will be instructing the Titan's attorney to file an amicus brief with the appellate courts first thing in the morning."

"From what I know," Maggie said, "There is an appeal filed already."

"I will call the DoJ in a few moments," Edward said, "Got a few things to wrap up here."

"All right," Maggie said and hung up.

Edward calmly returned the phone and shook his head, "Looks like Roulette does have friends in high places. She's been released on bail."

He pulled his smartphone and called Washington. The conversation was short, though. It was mainly Edward asking who had the stones to nullify his jurisdictional claim.

What answers he got, angered him further.

"Time to play hardball," Edward said, "Inform the Attorney General … Wait...WHAT?! SHE SIGNED OFF ON THIS?! IS SHE OUT OF HER GOD-DAMNED MIND?!"

Needless to say, Edward was beyond livid. Enough that Raven knew about it halfway around the world.

He growled, "Fine ... I shall be in contact with her boss." He hung up and called the White House.

"Barnes to talk to the Boss," he told the President's secretary.

A moment later, the President was on the line (luckily she had a moment or she would not have taken his call).

They spoke for about five minutes, in which Edward was assured that someone would be held to account.

Edward then asked that the IRS take a closer look at the judge's income as well as other people who would be a tad richer.

Within 24 hours, a sitting Federal judge would be under investigation, as would the Attorney General of the United States. Edward had convinced the President to appoint an Independent Special Prosecutor with the rule "No rules, just make sure justice is done." Also, within a week, those two would be looking at possible Impeachment.

That done, Edward cooled off.

"Damn," Alex said, "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

"Heck," Edward said, "Had the President been in a meeting or something else, I would have been cooling my heels. Even I have to take a back seat when the President's busy.

"Ladies, I do not like taking these steps. It's distasteful to me. But, Roulette needed to stay in custody. I knew it was a mistake to transfer her from the DEO to the federal prison system. Yet, I also cannot overlook that she does have a few rights."

"There wasn't a choice," Alex protested, "Her damn lawyers someone figured out that she was being held there and got a court order forcing us to let her be transferred. It was an airtight order, Edward."

He sighed, "I know. J'onn sent me a copy of the order. When I am done, those lawyers will be lucky to only be censured if not disbarred. For now, let's see about freezing their funds for a few days and see if they get the hint.

"I'm going to take some time to cool off first. Anyone hungry? It's on me."

"What about these folks?" Alex wondered, "Especially this Cyborg?"

"Pull the cyborg's power source," Edward said.

"I wouldn't," Jeremiah stated, "He needs minimum power to maintain his memory core. If that's removed, his memory could be wiped out and unrecoverable."

"Crap," Edward said, "What about paralyzing him temporarily? If he wakes up, I do not want him being able to move."

"That would work," Jeremiah replied, "If you disable the neural net from the neck down, he can spout all the threats he wants and can't do anything about it."

Edward smirked as he pulled out his communicator again.

"Edward to Cyborg," he said.

"Yo, Dawg!" Cyborg replied, "How is Japan?"

"It's still Japan," Edward said, "However, I'm with Supergirl. Someone had to try to capture her and Mon-El. I was called in to help. But, I need your help. I captured another cyborg who looks like Hank Henshaw, calling itself Cyborg Superman. He's deactivated after a fight and we need to extract his memory core before, hopefully, reprogramming him."

"Sweet!" Cyborg asked, "Should be fun!"

"You'll have to partially paralyze him," Edward recommended, "Lest he wake up and do something really stupid."

"Will do," Cyborg said, "Give me some time to ready my lab."

"Something else came up," Edward said, "someone I captured a month ago had a judge and the AG in her back pocket. That suspect is on the loose after getting a sweetheart bail amount."

"Damn," Cyborg said, "I guess that explains why Ralph was frantically trying to break a firewall."

"No," Edward said, "The mission of the day was after freeing Supergirl, Mon-El and Kara Danvers' dad, the CADMUS facility here in National City was destroyed. Ralph was trying to stop a self-destruct countdown, then, tracing some evidence. He's trying to crack the encryption on the files."

"Well, since you had mentioned Cadmus in the past," Cyborg said, "We've also been looking into it. I think you only took down one of their bases of operation. There's other locations we think. But, who got released?"

"Her name's Roulette," Edward replied, "She had a fight club comprised of different alien species. Supergirl, Alex Danvers and I took it down. She tried to get released from custody, until I claimed supervening jurisdiction to prevent an immediate release. I think her attorneys managed to convince not only a sitting federal judge, but, the Attorney General to agree to bail. I'm going to have to file an emergency appeal in a bit."

"Wow," Cyborg replied, "I'll let our attorneys know, then, to expect your call."

"Thanks," Edward said, "I'm going to open a Tear and drop off our robotic friend. Ralph should be able to keep him in a disabled state...I hope!"

"All right," Cyborg said and disconnected.

"Might as well come with me, you three," Edward said, "Dr. Danvers, I would recommend that you stay there. You'll be safe and secure at Titan Tower."

Jeremiah nodded, "Works for me. CADMUS will be hunting me down anyway."

Edward opened the tear and said, "Just need to step into it, folks. It will drop you at the front door of Titan Tower."

They did that as Edward picked up the still deactivated Hank Henshaw cyborg and stepped through as well. The Tear collapsed after him.

 **[Titan Tower]**

"Welcome to Titan Tower!" Edward said as the doors opened up to allow them to enter.

"Thanks!" Jeremiah said.

They caught the elevator to Cyborg's lab and secured the Henshaw lookalike.

"How are you going to restrain him?" Kara asked.

"I will merely interrupt the electrical signals from his internal PSU," Ralph said after a moment, "I am scanning him as we speak and there are electrical pathways that can be interrupted, preventing the wattage needed to reboot from reaching the CPU and other components. There is a battery backup, similar to what is needed to preserve a computer's BIOS, that I will leave running. Also, Supergirl, Edward is going to put the Cyborg into restraints that our Cyborg is not able to overcome."

Edward did just that as Victor came in.

"All secured?" He asked.

Edward nodded, "He is."

Edward had a thought, "Ralph, see if there's any tracking signals within our guest. I don't want a force from CADMUS trying to overwhelm the Tower."

Ralph did as he was asked and said, "Good call, Edward. I am detecting a GPS tracking unit. I do not think that it is active."

Kara also scanned Henshaw with her X-Ray vision and nodded, "I see it. I am not seeing any indication that it is active."

Ralph then announced, "WARNING! There is a self-destruct switch, located in the chest cavity. It would take out the Tower if activated."

"It'll be fine," Cyborg replied, "I can disable that as long as power isn't restored."

Nightwing appeared then, saying "I hope so. I'm surprised to see you, Edward. What happened to your vacation?"

"Well," Edward said, "I was enjoying some time in Japan and got word that Supergirl and Mon-El had been kidnapped. Turns out they were held in cells made of Nth metal. That stuff is a beast to bend, let alone break. Having the various blessings helped a lot.

"Also, we rescued Dr. Jeremiah Danvers from there and captured, as you can see, another cyborg. He lost a fight against my Dark side. He's going to have to hang out for a few days, and, I will cover his expenses while he is here."

Nightwing sighed, "You really need to learn to stay on vacation...but, I know you won't regardless. Dr. Danvers is welcome to stay as long as needed."

Nightwing had realized a long time ago that when a dragon set their mind to something, it was hard to get them to reconsider. Edward was no exception at times. Others, he would be willing to concede or compromise.

"Thanks," Jeremiah replied, "I'll try not to get in the way. Edward, I will need some new clothes at some point."

"Give Nightwing a list of things you will be needing," Edward replied. He handed Nightwing $500 and said, "Hopefully, this will be enough to get him some changes of clothing, toiletries, etc. If you need more, let me know.

"Doctor, I would advise that you not leave here until the CADMUS threat is taken care of."

"What about my wife?" Jeremiah said, "I would like to contact her."

Edward nodded, "Ralph can route a call through different places, if need be. Don't use your own cell phone, not until it's checked for bugs and other unwanted software. Outside of that, I think it's a good idea."

"I'll let him use my phone," Alex said.

"Thanks," Jeremiah replied.

"I have to get back to National City," Kara said, "I have to write up the report for Snapper and Cat."

"All right," Edward said with a smile, "We'll keep you in the loop on what is happening here. Alex, do you want to hang out for a bit with your dad?"

"I'd like that," she replied, "If that's OK?"

"It's fine with me," Nightwing replied as well, "Come on, let me give you a tour of the place."

Everyone left and Edward said, "Kara, you can write the article here and email it to your editors, right? You should spend some time with your dad as well."

Kara's head lowered, "I couldn't even save him from their clutches." Her voice was heavy with emotion.

Edward pulled Kara into a hug that she welcomed.

"Kara," he said gently, "Let it out. I don't need to be an empath to know that you're hurt."

She wept for several minutes, releasing a bunch of pent up emotions.

"Brother Edward?" A different, yet, concerned voice called out.

"Come on in, Starfire," he replied, "It's all right."

Starfire glided in and said, "A new friend?"

"Yes," Edward replied, "This is Supergirl. Superman's cousin, actually."

Kara looked at Starfire and tried to smile, only to be caught up in a classic Starfire hug!

"Hello, new friend Supergirl!" She said. Edward smirked, [Even 18 years after she arrived here, Starfire's still eager as ever to make new friends.]

[Let me guess,] Raven replied, [Kara's at the tower and Starfire hugged her already?]

[Of course,] Edward said, [would you expect her not to, especially if she knows that the person is a friend of ours?]

[Nope,] Raven said, [You OK? I almost teleported over there when your anger spiked hard.]

He explained what happened and when he was done, she commented [I see. Sounds like a few folks will be finding out a few things the hard way.]

[Yeah. They will not like it much,] Edward said, [I'm not pleased that Roulette was even able to do this at all. Next few days, if I'm lucky, will be spent wasting my time checking things out, finding out what was going on. Wanna bet me that she was visited by some attorneys and gets attorney-client privilege? I can't violate that.]

[No bet, sweetheart,] Raven replied, [That's exactly how I would get this sort of get out of jail card.]

Jeremiah came in and saw his daughter crying softly. He sighed before coming over.

He put his hand on Kara's shoulder and she looked into kind, compassionate eyes. Edward let her go and said, "Kara, Dr. Danvers. You two should talk, in private. Hence, I will retreat to allow you to do that. I'll send Alex in, though."

"Thanks, Edward," Jeremiah replied.

So, Edward kept his word and retreated to give them some privacy. He had a long set of days ahead of him. Little did he know, his life was about to get really interesting.


End file.
